How Many Of Minnesota’s Most Popular Slang Words Do You Actually Know?

Every generation talks its own way, and it's usually a way that all the younger people are on board with, while the older generation of the time has no idea what the young people are even saying.

In the 1960s, something great was "groovy" or "far out." The '70s gave us "keep on truckin'" and "can you dig it," the '80s went "totally tubular" and "gnarly," and by the '90s everything cool was "da bomb" or "all that." Roll into the early 2000s, and you were dropping "bling," "my bad," and "peace out."

Here is the funny part: most of those words didn't stick around. Slang is like fashion — what sounds effortlessly cool one decade sounds hopelessly dated the next, and half the fun is watching the words come and go.

What has changed in 2026 is the speed. In the age of TikTok, Instagram, gaming chats and group threads, a brand-new slang term can circle the globe in a weekend.

And if you've noticed that the older you get, the less of it you understand — you are not imagining things. To map the moment, word experts at Unscramblerer analyzed Google search data to find the slang people are looking up most, both nationally and right here in Minnesota.

The Most Searched Slang Words In Minnesota

The researchers studied Google search data from January 1 through August 17, 2026, using Google Trends to surface the trending terms and Ahrefs to measure how often people searched them.

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The key was the word "meaning" — people hear a term and immediately look up what it means, like "67 meaning" or "what does rizz mean" — and the study tallied roughly 150 search variations.

Here are the top seven for Minnesota:

• Chud — a fool, troll, or jerk, often aimed at an obnoxious, unlikable person online.
• 6-7 — a nonsense phrase with no literal meaning; the absurdity is the whole point. A prime example of "brainrot" internet humor, it traces back to a song by Skrilla and a viral video from basketball player LaMelo Ball, and kids now chant it with exaggerated hand gestures.
• Larping — a poser or try-hard; someone faking a lifestyle or pretending to be something they're not.
• Strunk — being drunk and high at the same time; a mash-up of "stoned" and "drunk."
• Chopped — ugly, rough, or unattractive; looking a little worse for wear.
• Cap — a lie or exaggeration. Flip it to "no cap," and it means the opposite: I'm telling the truth.
• Unc — short for "uncle," a playful jab at someone who's getting older or a little out of touch.

The list doesn't stop at seven, but from there it slides into a string of derogatory put-downs and insults aimed at other people — and I'm not going to give any attention to words of that nature. So we'll leave Minnesota's list right here.

How Minnesota Compares To The Rest Of America

Nationally, the study also measured approximate monthly search totals. The three most-searched slang terms in the country were:

• 6-7 (1,602,200 searches) — the same nonsense "brainrot" phrase, and by a mile the most-searched slang term in America.
• Chud (184,900 searches) — a fool, troll or jerk.
• Rizz (171,100 searches) — charm, charisma or the ability to attract a romantic partner.

A few of these will look familiar. Four terms landed on both Minnesota's top seven and America's top 10 — 6-7, Chud, Cap and Larping — proof that when it comes to the internet's favorite words, Minnesota is right in step with the rest of the country.

There may be more to all this than throwaway jokes. "Using slang is a social signal," said Randoh Sallihall, a spokesperson for Word Unscramble. "It helps people navigate identity and belong to a community."

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He goes on to say that the popularity of trending slang words can change quickly, but the psychological need behind them stays the same. Using slang words is a way for people to understand one another and feel like they belong.

So if you want to stay hip and surprise your kids — who almost certainly know most of these already — work a few into your next conversation and see how they react. My guess? A world-class eye roll. No cap.