These are Minnesota's most-searched slang words of 2024
MINNEAPOLIS — Researchers have pinpointed the slang words Minnesotans were curious enough about this year to hit up Google in the pursuit of broadening their cultural vocabulary.
The folks at Unscramblerer.com used data from Google Trends and the marketing intelligence tool Ahrefs to narrow down the top 10 most-searched words in the state:
- Dei — An acronym meaning "diversity, equity and inclusion."
- Demure — Popularized by TikToker Jools Lebron, it's a word of unknown origin meaning "reserved or modest in manner," according to Merriam-Webster.
- Sigma — The 18th letter of the Greek alphabet that now somehow refers to "an independent, self-reliant person who operates outside traditional social hierarchies, often described as a 'lone wolf,'" according to Unscramblerer.
- Skibidi — Let's see, where do we even start with this one? OK, it's those videos from Eastern Europe where scary heads are popping out of toilets for some reason, which compelled Michael Bay to make a big-screen adaptation, according to Variety.
- SMH — An internet acronym meaning "shaking my head."
- Oeuvre — From the French for "a substantial body of work constituting the lifework of a writer, an artist, or a composer."
- Sobriquet — Slang for "nickname," derived from the French word for, get this, "nickname."
- Schmaltz — From the Yiddish word for "rendered fat," referring to "extremely or excessively sentimental music or art."
- Katz — Ancestry.com says it's a common Jewish surname derived from the Hebrew for "priest of righteousness." It's also the name of a legendary Manhattan deli, and now apparently "a term for anything enjoyable, fun or pleasing," according to Unscramblerer.
- Hawk Tuah — Sorry, but please research this NSFW term elsewhere.
Eight of Minnesota's most-searched slang words were also among the most-searched across the United States.
Unscramblerer says the other two that made the national list were "sen," which means "self," and "preen," defined as "a child that tries to act like a teenager." Merriam-Webster is not keeping up with the times, as it defines "preen" — of Middle English origins — as "to dress or smooth (oneself) up."
WCCO's Jeff Wagner tackled the topic of slang in this edition of Good Question from last year.
