Sacrament Slang Origins #87:

The slang phrase 6–7 comes from an infamous incident of an altercation between Hezekiah Archibald Shumaker Jones III and Joseph Smith Jr. in Nauvoo. Joseph had a Sacrament Program printed up with an announcement for Hezekiah’s upcoming marriage on June 7, 1844. However, he printed the date incorrectly as 7/6/1844. When Hezekiah saw Joseph in the street he pointed out the mistake and said he was starting to wonder whether Joseph was really a prophet. Joseph, known to be a bit stubborn, refused to apologize to Hezekiah’s satisfaction. Hezekiah started yelling “6/7! 6/7!” in reference to the correct date and Joseph would reply “6 7” and do a little weighing motion with his hands as if to say there wasn’t that much difference. This motion and lack of concern so inflamed Hezekiah that he formed a group of men who walked around yelling “6/7!” while Joseph’s supporters retaliated by saying “6 7” in a certain singsong way with the accompanying motions.

Many scholars have speculated that this incident is responsible for the date of Joseph’s martyrdom and maybe even the martyrdom itself. We don’t have any hard evidence of this, but Hezekiah was a leader of the mob and some people wrote in their journals that they heard him yelling “6 (twenty) 7” (with the twenty said under his breath as it were) as he marched toward Carthage Jail. It is interesting to think what might have happened differently if Joseph had known how to use “6/7” correctly. Perhaps he would still be with us today.