"67" now has a slang sibling, and its name is "41."
To many, 41 is the number that numerically comes after 40 and before 42. But to Gen Z and Gen Alpha, the number has been added to their slang vocabulary.
"I don't think you can understand '41' without understanding '67', says Benjamin Burroughs, an associate professor of emerging media at the University of Las Vegas.
“41” references are currently growing on TikTok.
Like "67," "41" doesn't really mean anything — and can be used in many different contexts.
You may see kids saying "41" on social media or in a conversation. Unlike "67," pronounced "six seven," "41" is pronounced as "forty-one."
The hand motion for the slang is the opposite of "67", according to Mr. Lindsay, a middle school teacher who titled himself the “OG Student Translator” on social media. The "67" hand gesture is a two handed motion that one would use to signal the weighing of options.
For "41" both palms of your hand are flipped, with the back of your hand facing up. The hands are shifting in opposing motions from front to back, moving from your chest and outward.
The Birth of "41"
The new slang derives from the song "41 Song" by Blizzi Boi. In the lyrics, Blizzi Boi raps about how he's 41 and has 41 of everything, said Mr. Lindsay.
The song was released in 2021, but has since resurfaced on TikTok.
Burroughs weighs in on what makes "41" so appealing to kids.
“I think that there’s a little bit of a game that kind of goes on right now with, like memes and Tiktok culture and the spread of these kinds of more memetic slang," Burroughs says.
Burroughs adds that kids find humor in other's confusion over the slang.
How Is "41" Used?
"41" is used the same way "67" is. It can be used at anytime and anywhere.
"It follows in the same trajectory as '67' as kind of being this more memetic idea that kids then replicate and find funny and humorous by its replication and spread more so than having any specific kind of meaning assigned to it," Burroughs said.
Questions that naturally involve the answer 41 may spark laughter. (Math teachers might want to avoid asking what 100 minus 59 is for the time being.)
"Be expecting that your kids, middle schoolers, are definitely going to be saying this in the near future especially as you get back into the new school year," Mr. Lindsay said.
What random number will be the next trend? Burroughs says this slang trend could persist.
"This may be a part of kids continually searching for a new thing that doesn't really have, like, a specific set meaning," Burroughs concluded. "That may be something that continues."
