Is nothing sacred? That’s what parents rewatching the Christmas classic Home Alone this season are asking — and it’s all because the “6-7” slang trend is disrupting their holiday viewing this year.

The 6-7 number combo — which tweens have been repeating in a sing-songy cadence (“six-sevennn”) for months now — appears multiple times in the 1990 film, which stars Macaulay Culkin as Kevin, a wise-beyond-his-years kid left behind by his parents for the holidays. In one scene, Catherine O’Hara, who plays Kevin’s mom, Kate McAllister, is talking to John Candy’s Gus about accidentally leaving behind young Kevin as the family traveled from Illinois to Paris for the holiday. Candy tells a story about once forgetting his child — at a funeral parlor — and says it took “six, seven weeks” for the boy to recover.

There’s also a moment with Joe Pesci, who plays Wet Bandit Harry opposite Daniel Stern’s Marv, talking about how he knows when the automatic light timers in the mostly empty homes on the McAllister family’s street will go on. The family famously lives at 671 Lincoln Boulevard. There’s also a scene with cousin Heather doing a headcount of the many McAllister cousins before they get in the van for the airport — and, yes, saying “six, seven” as she goes.

These old-school mentions in the film, which Siena Research Institute cited as the No. 1 holiday movie in 2024, are new fodder for Gen Alpha viewers. Parents have either been leaning in and filming their child’s reactions and sharing it online — or, in other cases, warning parents to be prepared for the 6-7 distractions. ("Choose a different movie if you don't want your kids to lose their minds," warns the Family AdventuresBlogger account.) There are also compilation videos of all the mentions circulating.

Melissa Todd, a 35-year-old mother of two from Connersville, Ind., starts watching holiday films with her family on Oct. 31, which is when they put up their tree for the season. “Watching Home Alone was the first Christmas-related activity on our to-do list this year,” she tells Yahoo. This year, the tradition came with a twist. It was Candy’s mention, toward the end of the film, that led her 7-year-old daughter to “jump up off the floor from where she was sitting and holler ‘6-7!’”

“While my 10-year-old son did not jump in exuberance like his sister, he [did repeat the phrase],” adds Todd. “I think I may have just stared with my mouth open for a second, processing what happened. I was unprepared.”

Todd posted a tongue-in-cheek heads-up to other parents on Facebook: “Your kids will likely jump up and yell … just as mine did last night,” she wrote. “YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!! And yes, we're already watching Christmas movies here.”

Todd says other parents have thanked her for the advance notice. Others have shared that they too accidentally discovered the reference when their kids shouted mid-film.

Todd is a music teacher, so she’s used to hearing “6-7” at work, where the adults have adopted it as a way to engage students.

“Recently, we celebrated the 67th day of school,” she says. “To start each class, I sang an improvised 6-7 song and had [students] sing along. They thought that was a hoot.”

As far as 6-7 goes, it’s largely a delight for kids and a drag for adults. The nonsensical saying — derived from Skrilla’s 2024 song “Doot Doot (6 7),” reportedly referencing a 6’7” basketball player — is an inside joke among young people. Although it has no real meaning, it has taken over classrooms, gymnasiums, Broadway and the House of Representatives. Dictionary.com recently named it Word of the Year, and some schools have banned the slang, citing it as a distraction from academic work. That’s especially true for the math teachers out there.

Crack down all you want, but 6-7 is going to happen during a Home Alone screening this holiday season. So go along for the ride — or switch to Elf.