the thing vs trendy

the thing

noun
  • The desired thing: someone or something that is popularly favored. 

  • The needful thing: something suitable for the purpose. 

trendy

noun
  • A trendy person. 

adj
  • Of, or in accordance with the latest trend, fashion or hype. 

How often have the words the thing and trendy occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )