On January 1, Lake Superior State University (LSSU) announced its annual list of banned words and phrases for 2026. Started as a party idea in 1976, the tradition has continued with the latest list marking its 50th edition.
Among the canceled terms, the viral slang “6,7,” which originated from a rap song and has a baffling meaning, topped the list.
“It’s time for ‘6-7’ to be ‘86ed,’” one submitter said.
Other popular slang terms have also been included on the list, with the LSSU citing “mis-, mal-, over-use, or general uselessness” as the primary criteria for their selection.
Viral slang “6,7” topped the list of words and phrases banished in 2026
According to LSSU’s website, they received 1,400 submissions from the USA and other countries, including Uzbekistan, Brazil, Japan, and the United Kingdom. The phrase “6,7,” pronounced as “six-seven,” topped the list, receiving the highest volumes of submissions.
Image credits: TikTok/hornets
“There are six or seven reasons why this phrase needs to be stopped,” one person said of the slang.
Its origins lie in the 2024 song Doot Doot (6 7) by Philadelphia-born rap artist Skrilla. It quickly became a viral internet meme after it was prominently featured in video edits of professional basketball players, such as Charlotte Hornets point guard LaMelo Ball, who is 6 ft 7 in tall.
@itsmusicbuilding The 67 Meme Is Getting Out Of Hand..💀 #67 #wspeed #lameloball #67kid #hiphop ♬ original sound – Music Building
The phrase has no official meaning, baffling netizens with its absurd nature and sudden popularity in 2025. Skrilla admitted that he intended for the lyrics to have an open interpretation.
“I never put an actual meaning on it, and I still would not want to,” the rapper told the Wall Street Journal.
Image credits: TikTok/joolieannie
Dictionary.com has described it as a “nonsensical and playfully absurd” slang term, with possible interpretations such as “so-so,” or “maybe this, maybe that.”
@joolieannie #fyp #demure ♬ original sound – Jools Lebron
The website also chose the slang as its 2025 Word of the Year. Given the phrase’s frenzy among Gen Z teens, educators called for its banishment as early as October 2025.
Other common phrases that were also banished include “Demure” and “Cooked.”
Aside from the viral phrase, other words that were banished from the lexicon include “Demure” and “Cooked,” which were ranked 2nd and 3rd on the list.
Demure emerged as an internet buzzword after TikToker Jools LeBron posted a video where she used it to describe her work outfit.
Image credits: Pocstock
“It’s very said more than very done, and we’re all very done hearing it!” a submitter said, calling for its axing.
Meanwhile, parents and guardians reportedly led the charge on the cancellation of cooked, a term used to reference “someone or something as being in a state of possibly irreversible misfortune and hardship,” as per the Merriam-Webster dictionary.
Image credits: Unsplash
“Hearing it…my brain feels ‘cooked,’” one person said.
Similarly, “Massive” was included because of its alleged overuse, and “My Bad,” which was earlier banished in 1998 but resurfaced over the years, was featured because it reportedly “does not convey much meaning in the way of an apology.”
Some netizens came forward to defend their favorite canceled viral slang phrases
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According to the LSSU, words and phrases such as “Reach Out,” “Perfect,” “Gift/Gifted (verb),” “Full stop,” and “Incentivize” had also allegedly overstayed their welcome in Gen Z and Gen Alpha’s lexicon.
However, not all netizens were happy with the axing of their favorite slang and defended some of the banished terms.
Alana Bobbitt, a 19-year-old university sophomore, had no regrets over using “6,7,” stating, “I find joy in it.”
“It’s a little bit silly, and even though I don’t understand what it means, it’s fun to use,” she added.
“I’ve always used the word ‘cooked,’” another college student admitted.
Image credits: Unsplash
David Travis, the president of LSSU, himself defended the use of “My Bad,” admitting he started using it when he was young and never stopped.
“A lot of us older people are still using it,” he said.
Travis hoped that while most of the banished words would disappear, he acknowledged that some “will stick around in perpetuity.”
“I still don’t get it.” Netizens have mixed reactions to 2026’s banished words and phrases
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