5 to 7: The Cheeky French Habit That's Suddenly Confusing the Internet
My niece recently asked me if I was 'doing a 5 to 7' this weekend. I nearly choked on my flat white. In my day, that meant something entirely different—and certainly not something you’d discuss with family. But as it turns out, the internet has once again hijacked a classic term, spun it around, and left us all frantically Googling for answers.
Last Tuesday, I found myself in a rather awkward conversation at a dinner party in Melbourne. A marketing executive—bright-eyed, barely thirty—leaned across the table and whispered, "I've finally nailed my 5 to 7. It changes everything." The table went silent. The older guests exchanged raised eyebrows (thinking of the illicit French tradition), while the younger ones nodded enthusiastically (thinking of... well, what exactly?).
This is the current state of our digital lexicon. A massive surge in searches for "5 to 7" has baffled analysts and parents alike. Is it a diet? A work shift? Or is the world suddenly obsessed with Parisian infidelity? The answer, as always, is a messy, fascinating collision of generations and algorithms.
"It's the ultimate linguistic trap: Boomers hear 'affair', Millennials hear 'happy hour', and Gen Z hears 'algorithm optimization'. We are divided by a common number."
The TikTok Hijack
If you—like me—immediately thought of the scandalous cinq à sept, you are showing your age (or your Francophilia). The primary driver of this sudden search spike isn't romance; it's retention rates. TikTok creators have been flooding the platform with a new gospel: the "5 to 7 slide" rule.
Data suggests that photo carousels with exactly five to seven images hit the algorithmic sweet spot. Fewer than five? Too short to engage. More than seven? The viewer scrolls past. So, when your teenage son says he's "grinding his 5 to 7," he's not meeting a secret lover at a hotel on the Left Bank. He's just trying to get more likes on a photo dump of his sneakers.
It is hilariously unsexy. But that’s the internet for you—taking a term dripping with mystery and turning it into a KPI.
The Cultural Whiplash
However, the confusion runs deeper because the original meaning refuses to die. The French concept of cinq à sept—the hours between leaving work and arriving home, traditionally reserved for a lover—is experiencing a weird, ironic revival among productivity gurus. They are rebranding this window not for sex, but for "deep work" or "side hustles".
Imagine the horror of a Parisian listening to a Silicon Valley podcast advising people to use their "5 to 7" to answer emails. It is a cultural crime. Yet, this ambiguity is exactly why the search term is trending. No one knows which version they are subscribing to.
👀 What is the original 'Cinq à Sept'?
👀 Why is everyone searching it NOW?
The Golden Window
What’s fascinating is that regardless of the definition—cheating, posting, or working—the "5 to 7" represents a desire for a golden window. A pocket of time (or content) that is just right. Not too long, not too short. Not too public, not too private.
We are obsessed with finding the perfect formula to optimize our lives. We want the cheat code. If posting 7 photos makes us famous, we'll do it. If working from 5 PM to 7 PM makes us rich, we'll do it. And if having a secret rendezvous makes us feel alive... well, we might Google that too.
So the next time someone mentions their "5 to 7", don't panic. Just ask for clarification. Are they optimizing their engagement, or their love life? The answer might tell you more about the state of modern society than you bargained for.
Snob ? Peut-être. Passionné ? Sûrement. Je trie le bon grain de l'ivraie culturelle avec une subjectivité assumée. Cinéma, musique, arts : je tranche.
