Emojis aren’t the only replacement for eye rolls and exasperated expressions when communicating in text. On Tuesday, December 3, Google released the 2019 GIF search trends, a list of the most popular GIF searches and the most shared mini-animations on the year. And with slang like “psh” and “oop,” the list suggests we’re so over 2019.
The dismissive “psh” tops the list for the most searched for slang terms, turning up GIFs from YouTube comedian Ed Bassmaster in the top results. That’s followed by “oop,” the word for when you don’t have a word, as Urban Dictionary calls it. Slang to replace the facial expressions hidden when communicating by text continues to dot the 2019 GIFs trends list, with “oh man” in fourth and “not happy” in 10th.
“Hustle” was the third most-searched-for GIF. ‘Peasant’ and ‘dad joke’ made the list in fifth and sixth, followed by ‘no regrets,’ ‘everything,’ and beast.
Along with the most-searched-for GIFs, Google also complied a list of the most-shared GIFs by comparing the data from 2018. The top GIF of 2019 — an annoyed Stitch, from Lilo and Stitch, pulling on his eyelids seems appropriate for the top eye-roll moments of the year. Stich made the list again in the third-place spot, this time, crying in the rain.
Jim Carrey pulling his hair and yelling in the scene from Liar Liar where his lawyer character finds he can’t lie is the second most shared GIF of the year, according to Google’s data. The list also includes a spit-laughing minion in fourth, Will Ferrel from Elf screaming no in fifth, and Ted saying wow. The expressions of movie stars continues to be a favorite in the last half of the list, with a Fresh Prince of Bel-Air-era Will Smith “oh snap,” a Medea head shake, and a creepy smile from Toddlers in Tiaras.
And if you’re wondering what GIFs to share in the holiday season, Google’s got a list for that too. Elf is a safe bet, with scenes from the movie taking up the top ranking, as well as two other spots on the list. ’90s classics are good too, with Fresh Prince in second and Home Alone in third.
The data comes from the Tenor GIF keyboard iOS app. Tenor now powers GIF searches in Google products as well as in other platforms after Google bought the company last year.
