# What do these symbols mean "Ø = Ü M"? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 1, 2016, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-these-symbols-mean-o-u-m/744805 "2016-02-01T01:57:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mangosteen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Mangosteen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangosteen)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2016, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-these-symbols-mean-o-u-m/744805/1 "2016-02-01T01:57:19Z")
I just got a text with just these these symbols in it. Ø = Ü M Anyone know what it means? What were the people trying to say? ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2016, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-these-symbols-mean-o-u-m/744805/2 "2016-02-01T02:14:47Z")
Ø is the Danish or Norwegian variant of O-umlaut, or OE in Swedish and German. By itself, it also is the Danish word for “island”. Ü is U-umlaut, or UE. M is M. But I think you need to give us some more context before figuring out what those letters grouped together like that mean. ---
**Author:** ![Mangosteen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Mangosteen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangosteen)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2016, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-these-symbols-mean-o-u-m/744805/3 "2016-02-01T02:29:54Z")
I’m a contractor and this is the text I got after I texted “Thank you” to her for giving me some information about the project we are doing for her. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2016, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-these-symbols-mean-o-u-m/744805/4 "2016-02-01T02:41:02Z")
It refers to the equation to determine how many 14 k of g in a f p d you have. Do you have an older or non-smart phone? I wonder if it was supposed to be something else and got “corrupted.” ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2016, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-these-symbols-mean-o-u-m/744805/5 "2016-02-01T03:08:38Z")
I think it’s a corrupted emoji or something. That’s what I gather after googling that exact sequence of characters. ---
**Author:** ![Suburban\_Plankton](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suburban_plankton/32/219_2.png) [@Suburban\_Plankton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Suburban_Plankton)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2016, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-these-symbols-mean-o-u-m/744805/6 "2016-02-01T03:11:19Z")
A bit of Internet sleuthing suggests that combination of characters makes up an emoji of some sort, though I can’t seem to find anything that specifies exactly which one. I’m guessing the person that sent you that message has a phone that supports emojis, and you don’t (at least, not that one). ---
**Author:** ![Mangosteen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Mangosteen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangosteen)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2016, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-these-symbols-mean-o-u-m/744805/7 "2016-02-01T03:19:42Z")
Thanks everyone. I think the problem is my old phone. My daughter says it belongs in a museum. ---
**Author:** ![Francis\_Vaughan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/francis_vaughan/32/3093_2.png) [@Francis\_Vaughan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Francis_Vaughan)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2016, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-these-symbols-mean-o-u-m/744805/8 "2016-02-01T03:21:37Z")
It is a UTF-8 version of an emoticon coding. If you write it out in hexadecimal is D83D DC4D, which is the thumbs up character. > **[Unicode character inspector: 👍](https://apps.timwhitlock.info/unicode/inspect?s=%F0%9F%91%8D)** > > Inspecting UTF-8 encoding of: 👍 ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2016, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-these-symbols-mean-o-u-m/744805/9 "2016-02-01T03:49:33Z")
Rats. I thought somebody had found a new element: Islandeum. ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2016, 6:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-these-symbols-mean-o-u-m/744805/10 "2016-02-01T06:44:18Z")
So, it isn’t some sort of dirty wink?