Can you guess 6-7 words on the 50th annual "Banished Words List"?

Respondents to an yearly Michigan assemblage survey of overused and misused words and phrases accidental "6-7" is "cooked" and should travel to a monolithic full-stop heading into the caller year.

Those are among the apical 10 words connected the 50th yearly "Banished Words List," released Thursday by Lake Superior State University. The tongue-in-cheek roundup of overused slang started successful 1976 arsenic a New Year's Eve enactment idea, and is affectionately called the database of "Queen's English for Mis-use, Over-use and General Uselessness."

Around 1,400 submissions came from each 50 states and a fig of countries extracurricular the U.S., including Uzbekistan, Brazil and Japan, according to Lake Superior State.

Also successful the apical 10 are "demure," "incentivize," "perfect," "gift/gifted," "my bad" and "reach out." "My bad" and "reach out" besides made the database decades agone — successful 1998 and 1994, respectively.

"The database decidedly represents the fad and vernacular trends of the younger generation," said David Travis, Lake Superior State University president. "Social media allows a greater accidental to misunderstand oregon misuse words. We're utilizing presumption that are shared done texting, primarily, oregon done posting with nary assemblage connection oregon code context. It's precise casual to misunderstand these words."

Few phrases successful 2025 befuddled parents, teachers and others implicit the property of, accidental 40, much than "6-7." Dictionary.com adjacent picked it arsenic their 2025 connection of the year, portion different dictionaries chose words similar "slop" and "rage bait."

Kids bash the manus motions associated with the viral "6-7" trend.

But what does "6-7" really mean? It exploded implicit the summer, particularly among Gen Z, and is considered by galore to beryllium nonsensical successful meaning — an wrong gag driven by societal media.

"Don't worry, due to the fact that we're each inactive trying to fig retired precisely what it means," the dictionary's editors wrote.

Each fig tin beryllium spoken aloud arsenic "six, seven." They adjacent tin beryllium combined arsenic the fig 67; astatine assemblage hoops games, immoderate fans detonate erstwhile a squad reaches that constituent total.

The placement of "6-7" astatine the apical of the banished database puts it successful bully company. In 2019, the centuries-old Latin operation "quid pro quo" was the apical requested operation to prohibition from fashionable use. In 2017, "fake news" got the astir votes.

Alana Bobbitt, a 19-year-old sophomore astatine the University of Michigan successful Ann Arbor, is unapologetic astir utilizing "6-7."

"I find joyousness successful it," Bobbitt said. "It's a small spot silly, and adjacent though I don't recognize what it means, it's amusive to use."

Jalen Brezzell says a tiny radical of his friends usage "6-7" and that it comes up a mates of times each week. But helium won't utter it.

"Never. I don't truly get the joke," said Brezzell, a 19-year-old sophomore astatine the University of Michigan-Dearborn. "I don't spot what's comic astir it."

But banning it, adjacent successful jest, mightiness beryllium a spot of a stretch, helium said, adding that helium does usage different words and phrases connected the list.

"I've ever utilized the connection 'cooked,'" Brezzell said. "I conscionable deliberation it got fashionable connected the net implicit this past year. It's saying, like, 'give it up, it's over.'"

Some of the phrases bash person longevity, Travis said.

"I don't deliberation they'll ever spell away, similar 'at the extremity of the day,'" helium said. "I utilized 'my bad' today. I consciousness comfy utilizing it. I started utilizing it erstwhile I was young. A batch of america older radical are inactive utilizing it."

Travis said that portion immoderate presumption connected the database "will instrumentality astir successful perpetuity," others volition beryllium fleeting.

"I deliberation '6-7,' adjacent year, volition beryllium gone," helium said.­­­

• Michigan