Even Cool Guy Conan O’Brien Knows What 6 7 Means

I genuinely hope that my children pick up all the latest lingo at school. So far, they’ve been stuck with their father, whose taste in movies, music, and pop culture would have him labeled a man in his 50s or 60s, not his spry mid-30s. Most of their references are going to be lost on their school chums, so they need to learn from others, lest I drag them down into uncoolness.

It’s not that I’m not at all current; it just usually takes me time. It could take years before something relevant takes hold in my brain, and even then, I may just know it enough to reference it. But mostly, things sneak up on me, and resemble something more akin to an alien language than human vernacular. That was certainly the case with 6 7.

I’m a tee-ball coach for my kids’ team, and we huddle up at the end of every game to yell “tee-ball” or, like, a favorite food. That’s an easy one. On one of the last huddles of this fall season, someone recommended yelling 6 7. Caught me right off guard, because every little kid there (except for mine) lost their dang minds at the mention, and that’s what we said.

Not long after, South Park referred to the saying, and I started hearing about it from my niece. Just like that, the saying was wholly present in my life. It was so strange. But I felt assured that no other adults knew what was going on either. This wasn’t a “me” problem, but a “we” problem! And that theory came crashing down when I heard Conan O’Brien explain what 6 7 means on the latest episode of his podcast.

Eduardo, Conan’s engineer, was heading to talk to high school students, and the crew was trying to help him sound relevant. Someone suggests he say 6 7, and Conan quickly rattles off that it is from a rap song (specifically Skrilla’s Doot Doot (6 7) though I had to look that up). Conan had looked it up to stay relevant, and that’s probably the most embarrassing part.

It did not take me long after Conan referencing where the song came from to find it myself. It was that easy all along. Instead, I treated it like some otherworldly object that was impenetrable. Please, don’t tell my children. I want them to respect me.