A Google Trends report has revealed the most-searched teen slang of 2026 and the most-used emojis of the past 7 years. Keep this as a handy guide in case you ever need to translate a text message into actual English, millennials, Gen Xers, and Baby Boomers.
Forget terms like 6-7, rizz, and mewing — those are old news. Now we have to figure out what crine, bird, and quiet on the creek mean when Gen Alphas use them.
The most-used teen slang terms for 2026
According to the New York Post, here are the teen slang terms on 2026’s most-searched teen slang terms and their meanings.
Scuba: According to a video on TikTok (the source of all information these days) scuba has a couple of meanings. One is being completely engrossed, “submerged,” or overthinking deep in your own thoughts or a specific topic. There is also the scuba dance, often performed with the song “Scuba Juke” in TikTok videos. It involves a person holding their nose shut with one hand while waving the other hand back and forth in front of themselves. I think. The Post says it also indicates that someone or something stinks, so who knows?
Crine: This one is a little easier to understand. According to the Post, crine is an intentional misspelling of crying that Gen Alphas use to describe what we used to call dying laughing.
Larp: Here’s another one that almost makes sense. Larping originally stood for shorthand for live action role-playing. Now, Alphas say larp or larping when describing someone whose lifestyle, expertise, wealth, or other image-building is fake or exaggerated for clout. It is basically what people used to call being a poser.
Bird: The Post says it refers to “women who are overly, detrimentally obsessed with men.” Other meanings, according to Reddit (the other source for all truths on the internet these days), include a woman who constantly seeks male validation. It also refers to someone who is “bird-brained,” exhibiting foolish behavior online and in person.
Quiet on the Creek: This phrase made its way into teen vernacular in large part due to its use by rapper Saucy Santana. The Post says it means “to keep certain secrets, situations and sexual scenarios on the down low.” Know Your Meme adds that it can be used as a metaphor for keeping personal matters to yourself so as not to “disturb the fish” or cause trouble.
The most-used emojis of the past seven years
Now that we have gotten some of the slang down, let’s delve into the most popular emojis and their meanings. Another Google Trends report has revealed the most popular emojis of the last six years. This is also useful information when needing to decipher a text from a teen.
According to the report, the most-used emoji for 2026 is the sideways crying-while-laughing face emoji (🤣). Older folks refer to it as the crying, rolling-on-the-floor laughing (ROFL) emoji. It actually is pretty self-explanatory and basically conveys hysterical laughter.
In 2025, according to the New York Post, the pinched fingers emoji (🤌) was used the most. Here’s where it can get a little more confusing. It is supposedly most commonly used as “a cheeky way of asking, ‘What do you want?’ or it can connote a ‘chef’s kiss’ level of rightness.”
The shaking head horizontally emoji (🙂↔️) was the most-used in 2024. Emojipedia says it is “intended to depict a shaking head gesture, which is commonly (but not universally) used to indicate disagreement, denial, or rejection.”
The pink heart emoji (🩷), commonly used to show feelings of gentle or even platonic affection, according to the Post, was the most-used emoji of 2023.
In 2022, the melting face emoji (🫠) was number one, and it can have multiple meanings. The Post says it “is used to describe a variety of circumstances that aren’t particularly pleasant — including embarrassment, burnout and literal heat.” However, Reddit users say they also use it to express their heart “melting” as they flirt.
The face-exhaling emoji (😮💨) was the most-used emoji for 2021. “Used to represent relief, exhaustion, or as a sigh of disappointment or displeasure. Can also be used to represent an awe-struck exhalation, such as when you see something “breathtaking,” according to Emojipedia.
In 2020, a combination of three emojis ranked number one (👁️👄👁️). This eye-mouth-eye emoji combo connotes a feeling of “it is what it is,” according to Know Your Meme.
Got all that? If not, 👁️👄👁️.