Do you guys mind if I call a quick moment of silence in praise of emojis? *Moment* Okay. So emojis are the greatest, and I'm not here to stand for anyone's hatred of them, nor judgment of people who use them. They don't just punctuate our own thoughts, they actually communicate ideas and feelings and dreams for which words have not yet been invented. It's a powerful little keyboard any wise mobile user knows well. Over time, we grow to develop special relationships with certain emojis. We nurture inside jokes with friends (::eggplant emoji::), incite booty calls (::sly-looking emoji::), express manic excitement (::party horn emoji::), and so on. They are capable of describing our personal style. They tell a story. But for all of their usefulness, there are still some emojis that remain a bit... mysterious, in terms of what the hell they mean. Sure, we've all come up with our own notions of what they mean for us personally, and it's actually really fun to use emojis of ambiguous meaning because it confuses people in a great way, but SERIOUSLY, WHAT DO THEY MEAN? I NEED TO KNOW.
Finally, here's a video that reveals the intended definition of five popular, oft-misunderstood emojis. The true meanings are pretty surprising, to me at least. Although I find endless fascination in etymology (however, not sure if that's the right word since we're referring to images instead of words; emojology maybe?), I'm not sure how much I buy into it. Assigning a hard-edged definition of an emoji seems, to me, as futile as assigning a hard-edged definition to a Bob Dylan song: The meaning is more fluid than that. It's art. Emojis are a Jackson Pollack painting. Regardless, here's a breakdown of five emoji's "true definitions":
So wait — that little dude is bowing deeply? I have one friend who always uses that emoji to apologize. Example:Him: How many Tinder dates did you have this week? 40?Me: You're garbage.Him: :: deeply-bowing Emoji ::Me: Haha. Okay, see you at the bar.
I prefer to live in a world that respects the highly interpretive potential of emojis, and that's the world I will continue to live in. But still, it's kind of interesting to know the truth.
Image: Emojipedia
