How to read the trend labels
Slang moves fast. We check how often people around the world look up each word, and mark the ones that are growing, holding steady, or cooling off.
- Rising: more people look it up every month. Learn it now.
- Here to stay: about as popular as last year. Safe to use.
- Cooling off: still understood, but fewer people look it up. Use it, but your younger friends may notice.
Do I need to learn slang?
You do not need slang to be understood, but you need it to understand. Group chats, comments, songs, and TV are full of it, and one unknown word can hide the meaning of a whole message.
Learn to recognize slang first, and use it second. A word like FOMO is safe almost anywhere; others sound strange from a learner, or rude in the wrong place. Each file says which is which.