My grandchildren and I were riding in the car, and we saw a sign for exit 607. There were giggles in the back seat until I asked what was funny.

“Six seven,” they replied, and the laughing started all over again.

According to social media, the phrase “six-seven” is extremely popular among the pre-teen crowd. But an end-of-the-year Associated Press article thinks this trend has run out of steam.

There are words and phrases dating back to the 1960s that are still in use today because, like “six-seven,” they’re fun. More importantly, they mean something to a select crowd grownups aren’t allowed to join.

Creating new words and phrases isn’t new.  Over 65 years ago, hippies came up with the word “groovy.” I loved that word as a pre-teen because it was so much more colorful than saying something was “good.”

There’s a lot of other phrases from the Love Generation that remain popular today.

Whenever things don’t go my way, I often mutter “bummer” under my breath. I’ve been known to use “the man” when describing nasty people in power.

But I’ve run into quite a few “Karens” – to grab a slang word from the past couple of years – who can give “the man” a run for his three-piece suit.

“Take a chill pill” has come out of my mouth more than once since I was in high school. But old trends are replaced with what’s new and edgy.

Because CB radios were popular in the ‘80s, there are a lot of phrases truck drivers used that became part of our vocabulary.

“Ten-4 good buddy” was one we tossed around whenever we wanted to say good-bye. I had a keychain fob with “keep on truckin’” on it until my young son asked what in the world that meant. My explanations sounded lame even to me, so I tossed the antique.

Despite modern technology, cell phones, and social media, each generation creates words and phrases that fit their age group perfectly. Some last a lifetime, some a year and others fizzle out. There are words and phrases I believe I’ll always use.

My favorites are the two words to describe something truly amazing – “awesome” and “righteous.”

I think “awesome” is overused, but it’s still a great word to describe the best sunset you’ve ever seen. It’s also my go-to word on Facebook to reply to a friend’s achievement.

From the safety and anonymity of my car, I’ve called someone an “airhead” numerous times when they make a stupid move on the road.

I often interchange “airhead” with “bonehead” because they both mean the same thing. Besides, with little children around, the words I’d really like to use aren’t appropriate.

Whenever I use the phrase “far out,” I think I should be wearing a bandana, hoop earrings and huarache sandals.

I love that the 80s generation came up with using “hunk” to describe muscle-bound men. They also came up with “foxy” to describe beautiful women, but I’ll take that one. Foxes are smart, quick, gorgeous and sly. They do what they want with a smile on their face.

Which brings us back to “six-seven.” According to young people and the internet, the phrase means nothing. It can be used to describe anything where a laugh is sought.

For this young generation, “six-seven” will be one of those teen-age memories they’ll slap their foreheads about when they’re older. We know how they’ll feel because we thought bell-bottom jeans and polyester leisure suits were “legit” and would last forever.

We were wrong, but we admit the error of our ways.

Can ‘ya dig it?

This column was originally published in The Fort Bend Herald.