A viral hand gesture accompanied by the words "six-seven" has been driving British teachers to distraction for months, with students repeatedly performing the juggling-like motion, Daily Mail reported Monday.
? WATCH: Keir Starmer does the 6-7 trend with primary school children pic.twitter.com/0PekWAQ5Uz
— Politics UK (@PolitlcsUK) November 24, 2025
Keir Starmer compounded educators' frustration during a Monday school visit when he demonstrated the gesture, sending young pupils at a Peterborough academy into fits of laughter. Britain's Prime Minister found himself delivering an uncomfortable apology to Jo Anderson, the headteacher at Welland Academy, after learning that students had been punished for performing the same meme, the Daily Mail reported.
The UK leader had traveled to the primary school alongside Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson to advocate for expanding the free school meals program when the incident occurred.
A young female student noted they had reached pages "six-seven" during Starmer's book-reading session, prompting the Prime Minister to perform the hand gesture associated with the viral trend. The classroom, as additional students began mimicking the motion, with one student stating: "Six-seven, everybody, six-seven." Daily Mail noted.
Pandemonium erupted among the remaining pupils, who replicated the hand gesture en masse, while Phillipson remained seated with a smile, declining to participate, Daily Mail reported.
Anderson addressed the departing leader: "Thanks Prime Minister for that lovely six-seven. You know children get into trouble for saying that in our school?" Daily Mail reported. Starmer responded with visible embarrassment: "Oh, do they?" before adding: "Sorry about that." Anderson replied: "No, no, it's absolutely fine." The Prime Minister then quipped: "I didn't start it, Miss," Daily Mail noted. The chaos later appeared on Starmer's Instagram account via video upload, captioned: "I think I just got myself put in detention..." Daily Mail reported.
US rapper Skrilla's song Doot Doot (67), released last year, appears to be the phrase's origin point, Daily Mail noted. TikTok virality followed when users began using the phrase to describe basketball players' heights, including Charlotte Hornets player LaMelo Ball at 6-foot-7-inch, Daily Mail reported.
March brought teenager Maverick Trevillian nationwide recognition as the "6-7 Kid" following a viral video of him shouting the phrase at a basketball game while making the hand gesture, Daily Mail reported.
Dictionary.com designated the phrase its "word of the year," suggesting possible meanings of "so-so," or "maybe this, maybe that" when combined with the juggling hand motion, Daily Mail reported. No inappropriate backstory exists for the phrase, which Merriam-Webster characterizes as "a nonsensical expression used especially by teens and tweens," Daily Mail noted.
