Every year, the fine folks at Lake Superior State University put together a list of words they’d like to see sent to the linguistic guillotine. And let’s be honest, in a country where people think “6-7” is a valid expression of human thought, it might be time to start swinging that axe with a little more vigor. This year’s top target? “6-7.” No, it’s not your kid’s bedtime or a failed math equation. It’s the latest verbal brain rot to bubble up from the TikTok swamp, courtesy of a rapper named Skrilla. Because apparently, when you run out of ideas, you just start shouting numbers.

The university’s annual “Banished Words List” began back in 1976, which coincidentally is also the last time America had sane borders and gas under a buck. What started as a tongue-in-cheek protest against buzzwords has now become a global intervention for the English language. This year, over 1,400 entries came in from across the globe. That’s right: people in Uzbekistan are begging Americans to stop saying “cooked” when they mean “tired.” If that’s not a cry for help, nothing is.

Let’s talk about “6-7.” A lyric from a rap song—because of course it is—somehow mutated into a Gen Alpha battle cry. No one really knows what it means, and that’s exactly the point. It’s like the verbal equivalent of modern art: meaningless, overhyped, and plastered everywhere by people desperate to feel special. Educators have pleaded for its exile from classrooms, which is refreshing considering most of them spent the last decade more concerned with pronouns than punctuation.

LSSU’s president David Travis blamed social media for the rise of these linguistic monstrosities. And he’s not wrong. When your primary mode of communication is a 10-second video filmed in your mom’s basement, nuance tends to get lost in the ring light. “We’re using terms that are shared through texting or posting with no body language or tone,” Travis said. Translation: the kids are not alright.

Next on the chopping block: “demure.” A word that once meant modest or reserved, it’s now used to describe everything from makeup to the way someone eats chocolate cake. TikTok creator Jools LeBron popularized it by calling her work outfit “demure and mindful,” which is apparently Gen Z for “I got dressed today.” Submissions to the list say the word has been so overused it now means nothing. Kind of like the Democrat Party’s definition of “infrastructure.”

Then there’s “cooked,” which used to mean dinner’s ready and now means your brain is fried from thinking too hard. Ironically, that’s probably the most accurate use of it on the list. One submitter said hearing the term makes their brain feel “cooked.” Join the club, Zac. We’ve all been overboiled by this nonsense.

Also making the list: “massive,” “incentivize,” and the corporate-favorite “reach out.” Because apparently it’s not enough to email someone anymore — you’ve got to “reach out,” like you’re dangling from a cliff in a Lifetime movie.

Let’s be clear. The real villain here isn’t just the words. It’s the culture that spawned them. A culture that prioritizes instant gratification over meaningful communication. A culture that’s been fed a steady diet of participation trophies, safe spaces, and alphabet-soup identities. This is what happens when you stop teaching grammar and start teaching gender theory. When a generation is raised on hashtags and TikTok trends, don’t be surprised when they can’t string together a coherent sentence.

So here’s a radical idea: let’s bring back words with actual meaning. Let’s reintroduce common sense into the national vocabulary. And maybe, just maybe, let’s stop letting 14-year-olds with ring lights dictate the way we speak. If “6-7” is the hill Gen Alpha wants to die on, then hand them a dictionary and say a prayer. Because if we don’t put a stop to this now, the next expression might just be “President Kamala,” and that’s a phrase even Lake Superior can’t wash clean.