From highbrow to low-brow, Canada’s top searches for slang in 2024 had it all.
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According to Unscramblerer.com, ‘sigma’ placed No. 1 and ‘hawk tuah’ was No. 2 in the top 10 most searched-for slang words this year in our country.
With 35,000 searches, ‘sigma’ refers to an independent person often described as a ‘lone wolf,’ while ‘hawk tuah,’ with 32,000 searches, means a spitting sound. The latter originated from a viral street interview with Haliey Welch who somewhat crassly explained what her signature move was for making a man “go crazy” in bed.
Coming in at No. 3 with 25,000 searches was ‘demure,’ meaning modest, after TikTok user Jools Lebron’s viral videos in which he used the phrase “very demure.”
N. 4 was ‘skibidi’ with 22,000 searches and refers to a viral internet trend popular on TikTok featuring animated videos of singing toilets and dancing heads.
‘Pookie’ placed at No. 5 with 18,000 searches and is used as an affectionate term for a close friend, partner or family member while coming in at No. 6 was ‘aura’ with 15,000 searches referring to the vibe someone gives off.
No. 7 was ‘Bomboclat’ with 11,000 searches and refers to a Jamaican slang word to express shock. No. 8 was ‘katz’ with 9,000 searches and is a term for anything enjoyable, fun or pleasing and can also mean “yes.”
‘Sen’ placed a No. 9 with 7,000 searches and is slang for self while No. 10 was ‘sobriquet’ with 5,000 searches and refers to a nickname given to a person or thing and is borrowed from the French sobriquet meaning nickname.
“The English language is ever-changing,” said a spokesperson for Unscramblerer.com.
“Every year new slang words are created. Many slang words are born through trending topics and viral videos on social media. However only few manage to stick around long enough to be added to the dictionary and remain in daily use.”
Research was conducted by word finding experts at Unscramblerer.com who analyzed Jan. 1, 2024 to Oct. 24, 2024, search data from Google trends for terms related to slang words.