A language update as the heat and drought recedes
Summer’s geopolitical turmoils together with the highest temperatures on record have pushed discussions of linguistic and cultural innovation to the sidelines. At the outset of the new semester I can begin to post again, thanks to collaborators and colleagues, with updates on the language of youth (I have also been adding items of contentious political and media jargon to my glossary of weaponised words and will comment on these separately).
Data specialist Randoh Sallihall has published his latest lists of the slang terms most often searched online in 2026 and has once again kindly shared these...
UK’s most searched slang words (monthly searches):
1. 67 (185 500 searches) – There is no literal meaning to six seven. Its absurdity is the point, making it a prime example of “brainrot” internet humor where the randomness itself becomes funny. It originates from the song “Doot Doot (6 7)” by Skrilla. LaMelo Ball a basketball player created a trending video about being 6 feet 7 inches tall using the song. Kids and teens scream and chant it often paired with exaggerated hand gestures.
2. Mogging, mogged, mog (41 300 searches) – outclassing someone else by appearing more attractive, skillful or successful.
3. Gooning (40 200 searches) – primarily used in certain online communities to describe a prolonged session of self-stimulation. The term has evolved to casually refer to becoming overly obsessed about something. Essentially losing oneself in enthusiasm for an activity or interest.
4. Rizz (38 200 searches) – style, charm or attractiveness. The ability to attract a romantic partner and make others like you.
5. Larping, larper (27 200 searches) – a synonym to poser, fraud and try-hard. Someone who pretends to be something they are not. Faking a lifestyle. Acting for attention.
6. Chud (22 600 searches) – a fool, troll or jerk. Often used to insult internet trolls and describe an obnoxious person who is unlikable or rude.
7. Huzz (22 400 searches) – refers to attractive girl or a group of girls. A replacement for “boo” and “pookie”. Somebody you want to impress. This slang had a more derogatory meaning “h–s”, but that has changed.
8. Unc (19 900 searches) – short for uncle. Used humorously to indicate old age(unc status). Anyone perceived as old, out of touch or past their prime.
9. Foid (18 300 searches) – short for “femoid” (a blend of “female” and “humanoid”). A derogatory and misogynistic slang term for women. Used to express resentment, insult women and reduce individuals to objects.
10. Cap, no cap (16 700 searches) – a lie, a fake claim or an exaggeration. Whereas no cap is means the opposite: I’m telling the truth, seriously, no lie.
11. Chopped (16 100 searches) – this term has become a synonym for something that is ugly, undesirable or unattractive. Looking very rough.
12. Aura, aura points, aura farming (14 800 searches) –
13. Clock it (13 300 searches) – strongly agree with a sharp and truthful observation. Calling out the truth.
14. Futz (11 000 searches) – waste time or idle. Mess around aimlessly.
15. Charge it (10 100 searches) – short for charge it to the game. Accepting a minor loss. Letting go of a frustrating situation and moving on.
UK’s most searched word definition by region:
· Scotland – 67.
· England – Mogging.
· Northern Ireland – Larping.
· Wales – Chud.
These can be compared with data from the USA, also recording searches by Gen Alpha and other youth cohorts…
America’s most searched slang words (monthly searches):
1. 6-7 (1 602 200 searches) – There is no literal meaning to six seven. Its absurdity is the point, making it a prime example of “brainrot” internet humor where the randomness itself becomes funny. It originates from the song “Doot Doot (6 7)” by Skrilla. LaMelo Ball a basketball player created a trending video about being 6 feet 7 inches tall using the song. Kids and teens scream and chant it often paired with exaggerated hand gestures.
2. Chud (184 900 searches) – a fool, troll or jerk. Often used to insult internet trolls and describe an obnoxious person who is unlikable or rude.
3. Rizz (171 100 searches) – style, charm or attractiveness. The ability to attract a romantic partner and make others like you.
4. Gooning (158 700 searches) – primarily used in certain online communities to describe a prolonged session of self-stimulation. The term has evolved to casually refer to becoming overly obsessed about something. Essentially losing oneself in enthusiasm for an activity or interest.
5. Cap, No cap (96 600 searches) – a lie, a fake claim or an exaggeration. Whereas no cap is means the opposite: I’m telling the truth, seriously, no lie.
6. Mogging, Mogged, Mog, Framemog (82 800 searches) – outclassing someone else by appearing more attractive, skillful or successful.
7. Bop (78 300 searches) – a person with many sexual partners(bops around from person to person). Someone who presents oneself online in a way that is thought of as immodest. A derogatory word often used in cyberbullying.
8. Larping, Larper (74 400 searches) – a synonym to poser, fraud and try-hard. Someone who pretends to be something they are not. Faking a lifestyle. Acting for attention.
9. Aura, aura points, aura farming (66 400 searches) – a person’s cool factor, swagger or presence. Aura points are essentially coolness points that you can gain or lose by doing cool or cringe worthy actions. Aura farming refers to a behavior (often referencing anime characters) where a person does something for the sake of looking cool.
10. Sigma (65 400 searches) – refers to an independent, self-reliant person who operates outside traditional social hierarchies, often described as a “lone wolf”.
11. Crash out (60 500 searches) – losing total emotional control and throwing a major tantrum. An extreme an reckless destructive outburst. A synonym for snapping or freaking out.
12. Glazing (59 600 searches) – praising someone excessively and insincerely(sucking up). The term is often used as a way to call out behavior where excessive flattery is used.
13. Huzz (57 300 searches) – refers to attractive girl or a group of girls. A replacement for “boo” and “pookie”. Somebody you want to impress. This slang had a more derogatory meaning “h–s”, but that has changed.
14. Chopped (53 600 searches) – this term has become a synonym for something that is ugly, undesirable or unattractive. Looking very rough.
15. Based (51 400 searches) – being unapologetically yourself. An authentic person who is confident in their beliefs. Someone who does not care how others feel about their actions and opinions.
16. Clanker (42 300 searches) – is a derogatory term for robots, bots, chat and AI technology. An example would be “having to talk to a clanker” would mean talking with a chat bot.
17. Maxxing (41 100 searches) – to maximize and optimize. Go all in on improving a specific part of your life. Doing something to an extreme and obsessive degree. This slang words has become a flexible suffix you can add to any noun. Common examples are: looks maxxing, fibermaxxing, friction maxxing, cortisol maxxing, chud maxxing, nonna maxxing, mogging maxxing, jestermaxxing, melt maxxing, sleep maxxing, token maxxing.
18. Unc (37 400 searches) – short for uncle. Used humorously to indicate old age(unc status). Anyone perceived as old, out of touch or past their prime.
19. Ate (35 100 searches) – expressing admiration for someone who just did something like a boss. Looking amazing while winning.
20. Cheugy (33 100 searches) – outdated and uncool. Trying too hard to follow past trends.
21. Foid (31 200 searches) – short for “femoid” (a blend of “female” and “humanoid”). A derogatory and misogynistic slang term for women. Used to express resentment, insult women and reduce individuals to objects.
22. Mid (29 200 searches) – short for mediocre or that something is of disappointing quality.
23. Crine, son im crine (27 600 searches) – laughing so hard I am crying. A short and fun way to say that something is very funny.
24. Delulu (25 800 searches) – short for delusional. It describes someone with unrealistic expectations, especially about crushes, relationships, or fantasies (thinking a celebrity will date them).
25. Quiet on the creek (14 600 searches) – a fun way to tell somebody to not be so loud or to keep a secret. The phrase originating from a Saucy Santana TikTok Live stream, where he recalled childhood fishing advice: “I used to go fishing when I was a little girl, you got to be real quiet on the creek.”
Randoh Sallihall a spokesperson for Word Unscrambler (Unscramblerer.com) commented on the findings: “The most searched slang words of 2026 give insight into the cultural conversations happening in America. Using slang is a social signal. What people search for can tell us something about what they are trying to understand and participate in culturally. Slang may look like a collection of throwaway jokes from the internet, but psychology suggests it is doing something much more interesting. Using slang helps people navigate identity and belong to a community. Research highlighted by the American Psychological Association, including the work of psychologist Ryan Boyd, shows that our language choices can act as signals of who we are, who we identify with and how we relate to other people. Research by Alice Damirjian (post-doctoral Department of Philosophy) similarly describes slang as a way of identifying group affiliation, distinguishing insiders from outsiders and reinforcing social cohesion. Today new slang terms can spread like wildfire around the world thanks to big online communities on social media like TikTok, Instagram, gaming chats, streaming and so on. The popularity of trending slang words can change quickly, but the psychological need behind them stays the same. People want to understand one another and belong.”
Research was conducted by word unscrambling experts at Unscramblerer.com.
We analyzed 01.01.2026 -17.08.2026 search data from Google Trends for terms related to slang words.
Methodology: We used Google Trends to discover the top trending slang terms and Ahrefs to find the number of searches. America’s most popular slang terms can be discovered in Google Trends through the keyword ‘meaning’. People will hear or read slang terms and search for the meaning of the term(example ’67 meaning’). Ahrefs shows many variations of meaning searches like ‘slang’ or ‘means'(example ‘chud slang’) and similar keyword combinations(example ‘ what does rizz mean’). We added up 150 search variations of top slang terms.
It’s important to remember that these invaluable records are recording only look-ups – terms searched for probably because hearers or readers are unsure of their exact meanings or spelling. Words which are familiar to their users, such as neighbourhood slang, family slang or local dialect do not feature. The look-up list will also inevitably show a very high proportion of expressions originating in the US, as the common language of the Internet, influencers and content-creators, rap music and entertainment media is still American English.
A number of other glossaries of youth language have been published during the summer, and links to them are here…
Gabb Com and Axis Parent Guide updated their 2025 US glossaries with the latest teen usages…
https://gabb.com/blog/teen-slang
https://axis.org/resource/a-parent-guide-to-teen-slang
Gaming terms are an important element in both everyday slang and tech-talk, as the Guardian described in June…
My impression, supported by the Unscramblerer data and by anecdotal evidence from my young informants, is that the high turnover in ‘aesthetics’ and ‘vibes’ (fads, new looks and new poses) previously promoted by Gen Z, influencers and TikTokers, along with the new terms generated (featuring in earlier posts on this site), has slowed and there are relatively few recent additions to the shared vocabulary prevailing in 2025. One exception would be the use of the combining form ‘-maxxing’, first employed by incels, now adopted by a very wide range of cultural ‘stakeholders’…
A range of new expressions inevitably failed to make the lists, among them ‘wam’ meaning large (if in capitals can mean ‘walking-around money’), ‘baddie’, an admiring or affectionate term of address or description of an attractive person, ‘glitch-walking’, moving awkwardly like a video game character, ‘lore-dumping’, explaining one’s whole backstory at once in a post or message, ‘high-cortisol’ or ‘cortisol-coded’, exuding or suggesting stress.
Examples of the latest tech slang and jargon were noted by the Guardian in August…
tony thorne 