# What doe /-/\* mean? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 28, 2008, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-doe-mean/457968 "2008-07-28T20:23:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Flutterby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Flutterby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flutterby)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2008, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-doe-mean/457968/21 "2008-07-29T18:00:48Z")
Well… if you think in terms of anime, the \* can be the drop that appears by the head when they get embarassed. So maybe embarassed by the compliment? That’s my best guess. ---
**Author:** ![Jragon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Jragon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jragon)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2008, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-doe-mean/457968/22 "2008-07-29T18:19:52Z")
I was thinking maybe: [![](https://farm3.static.flickr.com/2273/2314484163_fdcdf38c27_o.jpg) ](https://farm3.static.flickr.com/2273/2314484163_fdcdf38c27_o.jpg) [http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3110/2315317360\_1416bec835\_o.jpg](http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3110/2315317360_1416bec835_o.jpg) (“sigh”) [http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2321/2315295324\_54d1efff2f\_o.jpg](http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2321/2315295324_54d1efff2f_o.jpg) Possibilities at least. ---
**Author:** ![Zoomer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/bbce88/32.png) [@Zoomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zoomer)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2008, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-doe-mean/457968/23 "2008-07-29T18:34:59Z")
I have seen variations of these (During my year lost to Final Fantasy) where the Japanese used the \* character to differentiate between sexes … the \* being a flower in the hair of a female smiley. So you have (^.^) for a happy male and (^.^)\* for a happy female. Not sure what the /-/ is though … ---
**Author:** ![lizardling](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f4b2a3/32.png) [@lizardling](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lizardling)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2008, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-doe-mean/457968/24 "2008-07-29T20:04:13Z")
Looks like ‘the wave’ and ‘pompoms’ to me. Which would make sense in the context of the discussion. Maybe we’re overthinking. ---
**Author:** ![BarnOwl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e95f7d/32.png) [@BarnOwl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BarnOwl)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2008, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-doe-mean/457968/25 "2008-07-30T02:15:01Z")
I think \*\*awldune \*\*and **Flutterby** nailed it. Embarrassed by the compliment. Thank you all. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2008, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-doe-mean/457968/26 "2008-07-30T02:19:12Z")
[QUOTE=awldune] Isn’t this a variation of ^\_^’ ? That is, the asterisk is an anime/manga “sweat drop”. See: [Manga iconography - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sweat-drop) [/QUOTE] Even after reading that article I still don’t know what it’s talking about. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2008, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-doe-mean/457968/27 "2008-07-30T02:22:11Z")
Is it possible that her elbow hit the keyboard? ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2008, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-doe-mean/457968/28 "2008-07-30T05:12:59Z")
_personally would have guessed that it’s a “bend over” emoticon_ ---
**Author:** ![Manduck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/manduck/32/256_2.png) [@Manduck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Manduck)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2008, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-doe-mean/457968/29 "2008-07-30T05:43:32Z")
She was totally coming on to you! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-doe-mean/457968.md?page=1)