Hawk tuah, demure to skibidi: Here are internet's top slangs of 2024 as per the Unscramblerer study

2024 saw a countless viral trends. Here are some that managed to seep into daily language and intrigued the internet.

Social media trend’s contribution to vocabulary is undeniable. With the ebbs and flow of trends, keeping up with the latest lingo is like a never-ending marathon. The slang which originates from social media trends gets incorporated into everyday language, especially for youngsters chronically online. Sometimes those who are not in the loop with the trends may find the words all strange and alien. Unscramblerer.com conducted a study and examined Google search data across the United States to understand how trending slangs reshape our vocabulary. They also listed the top most searched slang from January to October 2024.

From Haliey Welch in an interview mimicking the sound of spitting as 'hawk thu,' Skibidi toilet's creepy stare to Jools Lebron redefining the word 'demure'; here are the trends that rocked social media. (Instagram)

Top-rank holders of 2024 slangs

The word ‘demure’ very mindfully grabbed the top spot with over 260,000 searches. Influencer Jools Lebron popularised the word. Being demure is all about being ‘mindful’, cutesy and not doing too much. It’s all about how you present yourself.

The second spot is ‘sigma’ with 220,000 searches which means someone cool, independent and a bad boy. Next, Skibidi seized the third sport with 205,000 searches. It’s bizzare how this nonsense word absolutely has no meaning but it can refer to anything good, bad or evil. Skibidi is basically an animated head popping out of a toilet and singing. Hawk tuah at fourth place with 180,000 searches comes with a sexual connotation. It is onomatopoeic as it mimics the spitting sound.

On the rest of the list, there are other slang like Sobriquet, Schmaltz, Sen, Katz, Oeuvre, and Preen.

November-December’s Chill Guy

The survey was conducted only from January to October 2024, so the recent Chill Guy meme didn't make it to the list. Chill Guy, a cartoon of a laidback, brown dog wearing a grey sweater, blue jeans, and red sneakers went viral on social media. Netizens soon began to identify as the ‘chill guy’, embracing a calm composure.

Social media is a mirror of society, and here it shows how trends however viral or local, have a substantial impact on the language. Whether it’s reimagining familiar words like ‘demure’ in a fresh context or adopting quirky Gen Alpha slang like ‘skibidi,’ viral trends have an impact that goes far beyond mere numbers.