Google just released its annual “Year in Search,” a collection of the new, most-searched terms for 2021. According to Matt Cooke, head of Google News Lab, “Year in Search always provides a fascinating insight into what the nation is thinking, learning and discovering—about themselves and others.” Remember: This isn’t the top searches overall, but the top searches that weren’t top searches previously, so “Coronavirus” or “free pornography” will not be included because they’ve been with us forever, but “Squid Games” will appear.
Surprisingly, “Why is this happening?” and “Dear God, please make it stop” did not top the world’s search results, perhaps because we scream these things, and Google’s voice-to-text hasn’t been fully adopted yet. Instead, people (people who use Google anyway) were most likely to search for “Australia vs. India” and “India vs. England,” terms related to World Cup Cricket matches. (Cricket is a sport of some kind.)
While “a lot of people care about Cricket” provides a fascinating insight into what the world is thinking, learning, and discovering, we are Americans, so let’s get serious and talk about us!
The things people search for “how to be”
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At Lifehacker.com, we’re in the “how to be better” business, so Google search terms that begin “How to be…” are of great interest to us. These results, furtively typed into a search bar in the dead of night, are a secret window into our most hidden desires and aspirations. It turns out, in 2021, deep in our hearts, we mostly wanted to know how to get free money and be better looking.
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In spite of Google’s aspirationally inspirational video, we were not searching for things like “how to be resilient,” or “how to honor someone.” The number one most searched “how to be” in the US and A was “How to be eligible for a stimulus check.”
Next on the list was “How to be more attractive,” followed by, depressingly, “how to be happy alone.” We also want to know how to kiss better, how to be mindful, and how to be romantic (which is nice of us).
The overall picture is one of life returning to normality/banality. We’re thinking about how to make people like us, and how we’ll deal with our failure to make people like us, rather than grappling with the disease that may kill us all.
Weirdly, “how to be a flight attendant” was number seven on the list. You’d think the pandemic would make a career spent in enclosed tubes packed with people coughing undesirable, but apparently it’s still an attractive option to many.
How much better is the USA than other countries?
I suspect that the United States is better than all other nations, and would like to compare our “how to be” search results against other English-speaking countries in order to determine the extent of our superiority. Sadly, Google only breaks down the search queries that begin “how to…” for other countries instead of “how to be…” so a direct comparison is impossible. Google’s search results do reveal that New Zealand is the cutest English-speaking nation on Earth, however.
All hail New Zealand, most adorable nation on Earth!
In New Zealand, the most searched “how to” in 2021 was “how to draw.” Also in the top ten: “how to make porridge,” “how to solve a Rubik’s Cube,” and “how to make pancakes.” I want to live a lifestyle where my biggest concerns are how to make porridge and solve a Rubik’s Cube.
The second most adorable nation on Earth is Canada, America’s hair. Canadians spent 2021 searching for “how to make hot chocolate bombs” and “how to get rid of a stuffy nose,” among the expected “how to make money from home” and “how do I get a vaccine passport.”
How to pronounce…
Perhaps the most surprising result in all of Google’s 2021 trend data is in the list of “how do you pronounce” queries for the United States. According to Google, the second most popular pronunciation search in 2021 was “how do you pronounce Michael Jackson.” If you’re having trouble, it’s pronounced “Michael Jackson.”
We also wanted to know how to pronounce “dogecoin” (according to its creator, it’s pronounced “dowzh · koyn”), how to pronounce X Æ A-12, the name of Elon Musk’s son (according to his co-creator, it’s pronounced “X Ash A Twelve”) and how to pronounce quinoa (it’s pronounced “people actually eat this?”). We all wanted to learn to say “charcuterie” correctly, too (shaar·koo·tr·ee). This is a good sign for our nation. Please use Lifehacker’s charcuterie content to embetter your life through putting meat and cheese on a platter.
Other Google search data of immense importance
Two different “cores” made Google’s top ten searches for “aesthetics.” Cottagecore and Kidcore. Cottagecore is “a nod to the traditional English countryside style, romantic and nostalgic,” or so Davina Ogilvie, founder of a start-up that makes “custom (but affordable and accessible) window treatments” told Architectural Digest.
Kidcore is all about “bright colors, and nostalgia for icons from the 90s, and kid themes.” These “core” trends are equally annoying, but both speak to a longing for times past.
Based on google searches, the color of 2021 was sage green, a sort of pea soup/baby puke hue that sums up the year perfectly.
The most popular “or” question posed to Google was “effect or affect,” a question I used to ask Google every time I wrote either word, until I read Lifehacker’s top-notch grammarian Meghan Moravcik Walbert’s succinct explanation.
Our search results didn’t entirely reflect a “we’re over this plague now” attitude, though. Search results for “or” indicate we wanted to know whether it was a sinus infection or COVID (it’s COVID), and whether it’s a cold or COVID (COVID, again), and whether it is allergies or COVID. (It’s still COVID.)