'Peace' and 'six-seven' are children's words of 2025

Children across the UK have voted for "peace" as their Oxford Children's Word of the Year for 2025.

More than a third (35%) of the 5,000 children polled by Oxford University Press (OUP) chose it as their word for last year.

"Artificial intelligence" came runner-up in the poll for the second year in a row, and was chosen by 33% of children surveyed.

The viral "six-seven" trend was "overwhelmingly" chosen as the favourite slang term of the year.

Andrea Quincey, from OUP, said a "key theme" from the research was "just how attuned children are to current affairs".

"This year is no different; whether that's calling for peace in response to current conflicts or highlighting how AI has permeated daily life," she said.

Researchers said children often directly referenced the conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza when selecting peace as their word of the year.

Almost half the young people surveyed chose "six-seven" as their slang word of the year.

Over the past few months, the trend has been imitated by the Prime Minister, the basis of an episode of South Park and baffled adults across the world.

According to Dictonary.com, the phrase is thought to have originated from a song called Doot Doot (67) by US rapper Skrilla.

The song went viral on TikTok and on other social media videos to describe the height of basketball players.

Its actual meaning is unclear, though some say it means "so-so" or "maybe this, maybe that".

Quincey said the phrase was one which brought children "laughter and joy and connection with friends".

"We see how important it is for children to have agency over their language away from the grown-up world and share words that adults can't understand," he added.

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