# Is a thumbs-up emoji legally binding on a contract? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [February 21, 2025, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-a-thumbs-up-emoji-legally-binding-on-a-contract/1014622 "2025-02-21T12:54:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2025, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-a-thumbs-up-emoji-legally-binding-on-a-contract/1014622/1 "2025-02-21T12:54:51Z")
Saskatchewan Court of Appeal: šŸ‘šŸ‘šŸ‘Ž Supreme Court of Canada : šŸ¤” > **[Sask. company asks Supreme Court to rule on if thumbs-up emoji makes contract...](https://www.cbc.ca/amp/1.7464272)** > > A Saskatchewan agricultural company has requested the Supreme Court of Canada rule on whether a thumbs-up emoji texted to a retail partner can constitute a legal contract. > **[Sask. appeal court gives 2 thumbs up to decision that emoji is contractually...](https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatchewan/court-of-appeal-thumbs-up-emoji-contract-1.7415247)** > > Saskatchewan's highest court has dismissed an appeal from a Saskatchewan farmer, upholding a decision that a thumbs-up emoji sent meant he agreed to a $58,000 contract. ---
**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:** [February 21, 2025, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-a-thumbs-up-emoji-legally-binding-on-a-contract/1014622/2 "2025-02-21T13:13:53Z")
In general, Iā€™d say no, but this specific case, I think, is going to be muddied by this line: > Achter had sold grain to SWT since about 2012, according to court documents, and had responded with short phrases like ā€œok,ā€ looks good," and ā€œyupā€ to previous contracts, which were subsequently honoured. I can see the judge allowing this. I think, over the years, Iā€™ve heard cases of customers trying to back out of paying invoices on the grounds that they never signed for them and the judge siding with the business because the customer paid all the other unsigned invoices, so the lack of a signature shouldnā€™t suddenly be an issue this time. This is why, as a business, I like vendors that are strict about getting my signature for deliveries. It makes the ā€œYou never delivered that, you never wouldā€™ve allowed that to be left without a signatureā€ argument much stronger when Iā€™m trying to explain to a vendor that they made a billing error. I have a feeling, going forward, the company will followup a conversation like that with ā€œgreat, Iā€™m sending you a docusign linkā€¦ā€ ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2025, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-a-thumbs-up-emoji-legally-binding-on-a-contract/1014622/3 "2025-02-21T13:24:23Z")
Well, the moral of this story is, ā€œEmoj what you mean, and mean what you emoj.ā€ Note: I couldnā€™t find a verb form of the word anywhere, so I created this one. LOL ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2025, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-a-thumbs-up-emoji-legally-binding-on-a-contract/1014622/4 "2025-02-21T13:25:45Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > In general, Iā€™d say no, but this specific case, I think, is going to be muddied by this line: Thatā€™s my thought as well. From the CBC article, sounds like that will be the respondentā€™s argument why the SCC shouldnā€™t take this case. Turns on the particular facts and history between the parties, not a major point of law. ---
**Author:** ![Si\_Amigo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/si_amigo/32/2877_2.png) [@Si\_Amigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Si_Amigo)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2025, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-a-thumbs-up-emoji-legally-binding-on-a-contract/1014622/5 "2025-02-21T15:09:17Z")
> [@Jasmine](#): > > Well, the moral of this story is, ā€œEmoj what you mean, and mean what you emoj.ā€ > > Note: I couldnā€™t find a verb form of the word anywhere, so I created this one. LOL šŸ‘ šŸ‘Š šŸ‘Œ šŸ–– šŸ–• šŸ˜ ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2025, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-a-thumbs-up-emoji-legally-binding-on-a-contract/1014622/6 "2025-02-21T15:27:00Z")
A contract can be established with a handshake or verbal assent so why not an emoji? ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2025, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-a-thumbs-up-emoji-legally-binding-on-a-contract/1014622/7 "2025-02-21T15:30:47Z")
And, in principle, a signature is less a specific glyph than any mark made willingly by a party to a contract or document as an intentional sign of assent. A valid alternative to ā€œsign thisā€ is ā€œmake your markā€. An emoji in the right context is a mark of agreement. ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2025, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-a-thumbs-up-emoji-legally-binding-on-a-contract/1014622/8 "2025-02-21T16:15:21Z")
I thought Saskatchewan farmers carved all their important legal documents into the side of a tractor. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2025, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-a-thumbs-up-emoji-legally-binding-on-a-contract/1014622/9 "2025-02-21T16:16:57Z")
Only in cases of imminent death. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2025, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-a-thumbs-up-emoji-legally-binding-on-a-contract/1014622/10 "2025-02-21T16:19:30Z")
Previous thread on-topic: > [@65th Anniversary of Will on Tractor Fender by Dying Farmer](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/65th-anniversary-of-will-on-tractor-fender-by-dying-farmer/672304): > > Itā€™s a famous Saskatchewan wills case: a farmer, trapped under a tractor, scratched his will into the fender with a penknife: The will and the penknife were entered as evidence in court, which granted probate. The tractor fender will has apparently been cited many times in probate cases and texts around the world. The last witness to the events is now 80 years old; at 15, he helped to free the trapped farmer, who died a day later in hospital. The University of Saskatchewan is having a 65tā€¦ ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2025, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-a-thumbs-up-emoji-legally-binding-on-a-contract/1014622/11 "2025-02-21T17:51:53Z")
I would have said no in this case. Thereā€™s enough ambiguity in a thumbs-up emoji which makes it different than an ā€œokā€ or a ā€œyupā€. It could also mean ā€œReceived the contractā€, or ā€œReceived the contract, will let you knowā€. It reminds me of the true British movie called ā€œLet Him Have Itā€ where one of the robbers was convicted of murder and hanged for telling one of the other robbers during a botched warehouse robbery to ā€œLet him have it!ā€, meaning surrender your gun to the policeman. But the other guy shot and killed the policeman. The first guy was convicted due to having said ā€œLet him have itā€. ---
**Author:** ![griffin1977](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@griffin1977](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/griffin1977)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2025, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-a-thumbs-up-emoji-legally-binding-on-a-contract/1014622/12 "2025-02-21T18:31:57Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > general, Iā€™d say no, but this specific case, I think, is going to be muddied by this line: > > > Achter had sold grain to SWT since about 2012, according to court documents, and had responded with short phrases like ā€œok,ā€ looks good," and ā€œyupā€ to previous contracts, which were subsequently honoured So I think this is a key point. IANAL but as I understand it there is a concept of implied acceptance of a contract. Like if we draw up a contract, to say deliver you 10000 widgets at 10 cents each, I never actually sign it but go ahead and deliver the widgets and you go and use those widgets to make your thingamajigs. Thatā€™s implicitly accepting the contract If youā€™d turned around and gone ā€œwtf! We never agreed thisā€ and sent the widgets back, thatā€™s one thing. But by using the widgets you are implicitly saying you agreed to the contact even though we never actually signed it. So you are on the hook to give me 1000 bucks and I can enforce that in a court. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2025, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-a-thumbs-up-emoji-legally-binding-on-a-contract/1014622/13 "2025-02-21T18:45:46Z")
> [@griffin1977](#): > > If youā€™d turned around and gone ā€œwtf! We never agreed thisā€ I didnā€™t notice anything in the links about any follow up from the emoji. It did say other contracts had been established with responses like ā€œok,ā€ looks good," and ā€œyupā€. Iā€™d say itā€™s certainly up to the court to decide if an emoji is an equivalent because this is not the body of the contract. I assume in the Great White North they do the same as we do here in the US and interpret ambiguity in the body of the contract in favor of the party that did not write the contract. I donā€™t know what we do in a case of an ambiguous indication of agreement like this. ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2025, 10:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-a-thumbs-up-emoji-legally-binding-on-a-contract/1014622/14 "2025-02-22T10:16:12Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > I assume in the Great White North they do the same as we do here in the US and interpret ambiguity in the body of the contract in favor of the party that did not write the contract. Right, yes, the common law _contra proferentem_ rule of contract law applies in Canada. This is a tough one. I can see where arguments can be made for and against. If there is a track record of ā€œok,ā€ ā€œlooks good,ā€ and ā€œyup,ā€ then maybe a thumbs-up emoji is an indication of agreement. But ā€œok,ā€ ā€œlooks good,ā€ and ā€œyupā€ are words, not symbols. Iā€™d like the SCC to take this one up; it would help shape online law, of course, but it would also add to the definition of what constitutes a contract. (Donā€™t get me started on collections law based on a so-called contract. Listen, folks, if youā€™re loaning tens of thousands of dollars on a handshakeā€”forget the handshake and _get it in writing_!) ---
**Author:** ![Si\_Amigo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/si_amigo/32/2877_2.png) [@Si\_Amigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Si_Amigo)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2025, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-a-thumbs-up-emoji-legally-binding-on-a-contract/1014622/15 "2025-02-22T12:43:34Z")
Perhaps a myth, but hasnā€™t a thumbs up been used in some cultures to mean up yours? Just like the OK gesture can mean different things depending upon its orientation. Someone could argue that a thumbs up meant fu no. ---
**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2025, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-a-thumbs-up-emoji-legally-binding-on-a-contract/1014622/16 "2025-02-22T13:01:00Z")
As I understand it a contract needs a ā€˜meeting of the mindsā€™, meaning that each party understands that they are agreeing to the contract. When you sign a contract there is a understanding that you agree to the terms there and accept them, even if you didnā€™t read them. However a thumbs up may also mean that they received it, but not necessarily that they agree to it. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2025, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-a-thumbs-up-emoji-legally-binding-on-a-contract/1014622/17 "2025-07-24T17:24:14Z")
An update: Saskatchewan Court of Appeal: šŸ‘ šŸ‘ šŸ‘Ž Supreme Court of Canada : šŸ‘‹ SCC says ā€œbye byeā€ to farmer who gave a ā€œthumbs upā€ to the offer, and denies leave to appeal. Decision of Sask CA stands. The Court never gives reasons for denying leave. My guess is that this was too fact-specific for the Court to take it on. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2025, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-a-thumbs-up-emoji-legally-binding-on-a-contract/1014622/18 "2025-07-24T20:12:52Z")
The August issue of [The Atlantic](https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2025/08/emoji-internet-communication/683261/) had a review of the new book Face with Tears of Joy, _A Natural History of the Emoji_, by Keith Houston. Hereā€™s a paragraph: > But lately the crowds of the internet have found new ways to channel the old dramas. On the matter of the šŸ‘, the arbiters of our own arenaā€”internet-savvy young adultsā€”have rendered their verdict: The šŸ‘ is no longer definitive. It is no longer, for that matter, necessarily positive. ā€œGen Z Has Canceled the Thumbs-Up Emoji Because Itā€™s ā€˜Hostile,ā€™ ā€ one headline put it, citing data gathered in surveys and in the wild. Particularly as a reply to messages that contain words, [Zoomers say](https://nypost.com/2022/10/12/gen-z-has-canceled-the-thumbs-up-emoji-because-its-hostile/), the šŸ‘ is dismissive, disrespectful, even ā€œsuper rude.ā€ Itā€™s a digital mumble, a surly _if you say so_, a _sure but screw you_. It is passive aggression, conveyed with pictographic clarity yet wrapped in plausible deniability. Iā€™m going to assume that neither party in the contract dispute is a Zoomer and had no idea that the familiar process of youth revising slang terms once they are adopted by the old folks has enveloped the thumbs up emoji. But if I were a clever lawyer, I might drop this into a defense. I have no idea how the courts would deal with it, but itā€™s more legit than being a sovereign citizen. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2025, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-a-thumbs-up-emoji-legally-binding-on-a-contract/1014622/19 "2025-07-25T02:46:27Z")
And itā€™s yellowā€¦ just like the fringe on the flag! An Admiralty emoji. šŸ˜‰ ---
**Author:** ![Tired\_and\_Cranky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a87d85/32.png) [@Tired\_and\_Cranky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tired_and_Cranky)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2025, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-a-thumbs-up-emoji-legally-binding-on-a-contract/1014622/20 "2025-07-27T22:58:56Z")
Thanks for the update Northern \_Piper and the further developments in the real world, Exapno\_Mapcase. In the US, I might have expected the Supreme Court to deny cert either because there is no circuit split yet (if only one circuit had opined on the issue or all circuits are thus far in agreement) or because the justices deciding whether to grant cert simply donā€™t see any real room to disagree with the circuit court decision. The current justices donā€™t seem to let specific facts get in the way of the decisions they want to make. Iā€™m not sure Iā€™ve ever heard of a case that was too fact specific to opine on but maybe Iā€™m overlooking them. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-a-thumbs-up-emoji-legally-binding-on-a-contract/1014622.md?page=2)