Everyone, knowingly or not, uses slang in their day-to-day lives. Slang is an ever-evolving piece of cultural communication between different groups of people. Mainly in this day and age, specific generations of people think of slang as informal phrases meant for humorous purposes. Yet with the world and slang changing almost daily it begs the question, what does it mean?

A lot of slang can be used to shorten already existing words or phrases, like “rizz” being short for charisma, which is used by young people in order to communicate thoughts faster and more quickly in regular conversation. Slang also extends to expressing new thoughts or concepts in slang phrases like “we are cooked”, which communicates the idea that other words cannot fully express.

Recently, however, an influx of slang that has no apparent meaning has surged, like the popular six-seven meme, which originally just traces back to a kid saying the numbers while moving his hands up and down. While seemingly being an unfunny or pointless expression at first glance. Slang has become a permanent inclusion to the English lexicon that our youngest generation is obsessed with. However, something often overlooked in our day-to-day lives is how interconnected slang can be.

This sense of community among our generation is often unstated but felt nonetheless. Major events or typical trends are what often connected the generations of the past, but within the widespread land of the internet, slang makes its way around to everyone. With the inclusiveness of the internet, everyone can get in on the “6-7” memes and be a part of the cultural zeitgeist that the internet has cultivated. Children from any country or background, as long as they’ve been exposed to the meme, can participate in it and instantly be friends or find something in common. Whether you love or hate “6-7”, there is camaraderie formed between individuals.

The beauty of slang in communication is this unifying force for our generation to get closer and tighter as a community. So maybe next time, when a new meme comes around, and you write it off as an unfunny waste of time, maybe learn to appreciate the little bit of community and camaraderie we get from it.