# Emojis. A primer, a quiz, a question **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 17, 2024, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/emojis-a-primer-a-quiz-a-question/998946 "2024-03-17T13:44:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2024, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/emojis-a-primer-a-quiz-a-question/998946/21 "2024-03-17T23:26:38Z")
> [@Dr\_Paprika](#): > > At first I thought they could show broken water [![](https://img.buzzfeed.com/buzzfeed-static/static/2018-08/28/3/campaign_images/buzzfeed-prod-web-05/estos-emojis-nuevos-de-embarazo-son-demasiado-rea-2-21836-1535440943-14_dblbig.jpg) ](https://img.buzzfeed.com/buzzfeed-static/static/2018-08/28/3/campaign_images/buzzfeed-prod-web-05/estos-emojis-nuevos-de-embarazo-son-demasiado-rea-2-21836-1535440943-14_dblbig.jpg) Unrelated, but when I looked for that, I didn’t expect to see so many pictures of stained underwear/pads with the person asking if their water broke. ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2024, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/emojis-a-primer-a-quiz-a-question/998946/22 "2024-03-17T23:32:35Z")
Nice. Were these designed by the same guy who does those emergency cards they put in airplane seats? (In the unlikely event of an emergency, this ten thousand ton plane will be floating serenely on tranquil waters.) Is there an emoji for “stress incontinence”? No, I don’t really want to know… ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2024, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/emojis-a-primer-a-quiz-a-question/998946/23 "2024-03-17T23:33:40Z")
None of the article links work. ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2024, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/emojis-a-primer-a-quiz-a-question/998946/24 "2024-03-17T23:40:10Z")
(The gift links for the Globe can only be used twenty times, and only for fourteen days. No idea if location plays in. I don’t have lots left but have scrounged this, thinking many won’t scroll down this far. However, it may not work, or others may have to chip in to redo it or workaround?) Try this. > **[Opinion: If emojis are a universal language, why can’t we agree on what they...](https://www.theglobeandmail.com/gift/2c74378c75ce69f3bd05148883e9aa787edbcaa15de44e8517335ccc76bfb73e/VNW7BIGSPNFHBFSZDNRSAWMV4A/)** > > Some emojis may be universally understood, but some are also major material for misinterpretation ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2024, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/emojis-a-primer-a-quiz-a-question/998946/25 "2024-03-17T23:43:32Z")
> [@Dr\_Paprika](#): > > Nice. Were these designed by the same guy who does those emergency cards they put in airplane seats? Off topic, but that reminds me of a video I saw about The Memphis Group or Memphis illustrations or ‘corporate art’. I _think_ this is the one I saw, but I thought it was a Vox or Insider or Wired video… [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/lFb7BOI_QFc/maxresdefault.jpg "Why do "Corporate Art Styles" Feel Fake?") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lFb7BOI_QFc&t=162) ---
**Author:** ![Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulf_the_Unwashed)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2024, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/emojis-a-primer-a-quiz-a-question/998946/26 "2024-03-17T23:55:50Z")
The last one did work. Thank you. ---
**Author:** ![mnemosyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c4cdca/32.png) [@mnemosyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mnemosyne)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2024, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/emojis-a-primer-a-quiz-a-question/998946/27 "2024-03-18T00:00:05Z")
I’m very concerned about “pull”… ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2024, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/emojis-a-primer-a-quiz-a-question/998946/28 "2024-03-18T00:01:41Z")
You’re not supposed to start pushing as soon as your water breaks. – that last link worked for me also. I wouldn’t express condolences with an emoji! which does not appear to be an option. and wait a minute: > The higher the emojis are to the top, the more positive they are perceived to be. Further to the right means they are more negative. Say what? If higher to the top is more positive, then lower to the bottom is more negative. Some of them are high to the top and far to the left. What am I supposed to make out of that? ---
**Author:** ![Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulf_the_Unwashed)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2024, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/emojis-a-primer-a-quiz-a-question/998946/29 "2024-03-18T00:33:40Z")
It’s confusing, but given the thrust of the article (that emojis can be difficult to decode) it does make sense. The thing is, I think, that some emojis can be interpreted both as negative (farther to the right) and positive (farther up), or as neither especially positive or negative (farther left and farther down). Up and to the left = pretty universally agreed to be positive; down and to the right = pretty universally agreed to be negative; relatively high up and relatively far to the right (the orange zone) = perceived by many people to be positive and by many to be negative. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2024, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/emojis-a-primer-a-quiz-a-question/998946/30 "2024-03-18T00:33:47Z")
> [@thorny\_locust](#): > > Say what? If higher to the top is more positive, then lower to the bottom is more negative. They note that some can be perceived as both positive and negative (like laughing emojis). That’s why they put them on two axes. ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2024, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/emojis-a-primer-a-quiz-a-question/998946/31 "2024-03-18T00:40:54Z")
Ah. OK, that does make some sense. It seems to me that the problem with the tears emojis is the tears. They may be supposed to be tears of joy or laughter; but what jumps out at me is the tears. I just see somebody crying. And the problem for me with the ones identified as “smiles with teeth” is that, although I know that a lot of happy smiles show teeth, to me something described as a “smile with teeth” is an aggressive smile; a threat. ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2024, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/emojis-a-primer-a-quiz-a-question/998946/32 "2024-03-18T00:50:40Z")
Taffy? Pork? Nepo baby? ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2024, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/emojis-a-primer-a-quiz-a-question/998946/33 "2024-03-18T00:51:06Z")
Thanks! That worked. I interpret the emoji with the long tears as crying tears of sadness 😭 since it’s the first one that appears if you search “sad,” “cry” or “sob,” and the smiling crying one as tears of laughter. 😂 Several times an older person I know has texted the nose emoji because on her phone I guess it looks like praying/clapping hands? But on my iPhone it’s just a big ol’ nose. “Thank you so much! 👃” ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2024, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/emojis-a-primer-a-quiz-a-question/998946/34 "2024-03-18T01:05:29Z")
Jean-Claude, a French hipster decides to throw a party for his friends, where everybody has to come dressed as an emotion. He sends out invitations and eagerly waits for his guests now the day has arrived. The first guest to arrive is his friend Jean-Luc, dressed in red from head to toe. “That is a great costume. But what is it?”…”Jean-Claude, I am red… wid anger!”. His second guest is his friend Jeanne-Marie. She is dressed completely in green. “That is a great costume. Is this for St. Patrick’s Day?”… “No, Jean-Claude. I am green… wid envy!”. Next, Jean-François arrives. He is naked, but appears to be holding a piece of fruit in front of his genitals. Jean-Luc reluctantly takes a closer look… it is a pear. “That is a very strange costume, Jean-François. I cannot even guess what emotion this is!”… “Ah. Jean-Claude… I am fucking in dis pear!” (They can’t all be gems. No offence was intended to any group or individual.) ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2024, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/emojis-a-primer-a-quiz-a-question/998946/35 "2024-03-18T01:31:43Z")
See post 23, the third time is the charm. ---
**Author:** ![pjd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pjd/32/3009_2.png) [@pjd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pjd)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2024, 9:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/emojis-a-primer-a-quiz-a-question/998946/36 "2024-03-18T09:45:58Z")
Still doesn’t work … i see the page appear but it then disappears and shows the subscription form. Never mind. ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2024, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/emojis-a-primer-a-quiz-a-question/998946/37 "2024-03-18T13:32:08Z")
If you hit the stop loading button (the X where the refresh button usually is) before the subscription popup appears, you can read the whole page uninterrupted. (Or at least I could. Android tablet.) ---
**Author:** ![pjd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pjd/32/3009_2.png) [@pjd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pjd)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2024, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/emojis-a-primer-a-quiz-a-question/998946/38 "2024-03-18T14:51:58Z")
That worked, thanks. 👍 ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2024, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/emojis-a-primer-a-quiz-a-question/998946/39 "2024-03-18T16:12:08Z")
> [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](#): > > > [@kayaker](#): > > > > After my gf’s relative died, she got a text from a coworker that puzzled her because of the laughing 😂 emoji. The coworker texted an apology later. She thought the emoji was crying, not laughing hard. > > I’ve also heard of folks sending the praying emoji 🙏 under similar circumstances. > > It was interpreted as a high five. > > _“My mom passed away this morning”_ > _“High five!”_ > > mmm Reminds me of the true story, urban myth or joke (all 3 maybe?) of the lady who thought the text abbreviation ‘LOL’ meant 'Lots of Love", and sent a message to a friend whose loved one had died “sorry for your loss, LOL”. I texted an eggplant emoji to a female coworker I had arranged to get lunch with, to see if she wanted to get some eggplant parmigiana at a local Italian place. She texted back angrily cancelling the lunch date, and now I’m in trouble with HR. Weird. I guess she really hates Italian food. ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2024, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/emojis-a-primer-a-quiz-a-question/998946/40 "2024-03-18T21:25:13Z")
My oldest daughter is 16. She got a car when she turned 16. She’s actually a very good driver for 16. About 6 months after she started driving, she texted me at work and said that her car got a new “emoji”. I replied ???. She then sent me this photo. [![](https://hips.hearstapps.com/hmg-prod/images/check-engine-light-icon-1616189100.jpg) ](https://hips.hearstapps.com/hmg-prod/images/check-engine-light-icon-1616189100.jpg) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/emojis-a-primer-a-quiz-a-question/998946.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/emojis-a-primer-a-quiz-a-question/998946.md?page=3)