Do you know what this smiley means? The meaning of "VKontakte" emoticons: decoding of symbols

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A complete selection of emoticons from symbols: emoji, Japanese emoticons, classic brackets, ASCII-art. The coolest and most expressive symbols! ‿︵‿ヽ(°□°)ノ︵‿︵

In modern written speech there are no tools that would allow one to quickly display the author’s mood, his emotional state and attitude towards the interlocutor. In literature, writers usually cope with this by expressing thoughts in a few sentences, but in online correspondence, where speed is important - in a messenger, on a website, when communicating in social networks, this is extremely impractical. Such a dialogue will be protracted, because each interlocutor will have to think about how he will use certain words and whether the other side will understand him correctly.

And here emoticons ʕ ᵔᴥᵔ ʔ come to the rescue - sets of symbols that display human emotions or visualize some message. They significantly save time and simplify text communication between network users. This advantage will be especially appreciated by those who surf the Internet from portable devices that are inferior in typing speed to PCs and laptops with a comfortable and practical keyboard.

So, let's look at popular emoticons, the meaning of symbols that can be used in the process of communicating online, starting with the most common options and gradually moving to more “exotic” ones.

The most famous emoticons

¯\_(ツ)_/¯ - , or “pozhimalkin”.

Simple emoticons with text

) – a closing parenthesis, an emotion of joy, which can be used to give a positive color to the written text or to demonstrate your friendly attitude towards the interlocutor. Smileys with similar meaning: =) :).

(– an opening parenthesis, symbolizes sadness, disappointment. It is appropriate to use, for example, if a message from your interlocutor upset you.

))))) : D =D – emoticons equivalent to the abbreviation LOL, hinting that something made the person who sent them laugh very much.

:’-) :’-D – laughter to tears.

):-> or ]:-> - two options for the smile of an evil genius who has conceived an insidious plan or simply a gloating person.

:-/ – if you are puzzled by something, confused or filled with slight dissatisfaction, this sequence of symbols will express your emotions in the best possible way.

:-| ._. or -_- - these three emoticons will be a great way to demonstrate ostentatious indifference or disdain for something.

*O* or *_* or ** – strong admiration, impression of what he saw.

:-() :- :-0 o_O o.O – different variants of the emotions of surprise, which can be understood by the wide open mouth and bulging eyes.

:-e – emoticon of the emotion of disappointment. It's hard to say, though, why exactly he looks like this.

:-E or:E or:-t – rage, anger, strong aggression.

:-< – смайлик печального настроения.

:*) :-[ or %0 – used in cases where a person is confused by something/someone.

Emotional actions and gestures

The purpose of emoticons from this category, unlike those previously discussed, is not to convey the mood of the participant in the correspondence, but to help describe various actions or signals sent.

:-* or:-() – designations of a kiss in the text version.

() – with this emoticon you can demonstrate that you want to hug your interlocutor.

:-P or:-p or:-Ъ – teasing the interlocutor with his tongue out.

[:]|||[:] – image of a button accordion. In Internet slang, the name of this musical instrument usually refers to something that is no longer relevant and has been seen many times.

:-X – please shut up, keep your mouth shut, keep your mouth shut.

/:-] – a hint that the interlocutor’s attic is leaking a little.

*:O) – symbolic designation of a clown. If a participant in the correspondence has gone too far with humor and cannot stop, you can notify him about this.

*->->- – image of a carnation. You can give your interlocutor a flower.

(_!_) – naked human ass. It is unlikely that your friends or acquaintances will appreciate such a gesture in real life, but in virtual spaces such an expression of emotions is quite common.

Character and personage emoticons

This set of emoticons allows you to depict a person with any expressed characteristic (both psychological and physical characteristics) or a famous person, for example, a character from a cult film or cartoon, a historical figure, etc.

:-()=0 – depicts a person who has obvious problems with excess weight (fat).

:-() – emoticon with a thick mustache.

:~X – denotes a person who prefers to keep his mouth shut and keep quiet.

L:) – associated with losers/losers, people unlucky in life.

((:-) – wearer of false hair, wig.

~(_8^(|) – the recognizable face of Homer Simpson, the hero of the popular American animated series.

(:\/) – Pac-Man, a character from an old computer game.

(>o-< – любитель прыжков с парашютом.

<]:-o) – волшебник/волшебница, ведьма или колдунья (зависит от контекста употребления).

Japanese emoticons made from symbols

Being a very emotional and creative nation, the Japanese quickly mastered communication using emoticons. Moreover, their visually rich language allowed them to create several thousand variants of their emoji, called kaomoji (stands for face + symbol). Their main difference from the designations popular in Western culture is that the schematic image of the human face is always in the horizontal plane. There is no need to mentally turn it 90 degrees. Otherwise, the differences are minimal, except that the Japanese are not shy about peppering their emoticons with rarely encountered characters.

Japanese emoticons of positive emotions

Joy emoticons are usually distinguished by high-set eyes, a smiling mouth, and raised wand hands. A variety of symbols can be used as a mouth, from a regular dot to letters of the Greek alphabet. Many Japanese women use the letter ω (omega) for their mouth, reminiscent of lips folded in a bow. So, in their opinion, the emoticon becomes more cute, “kawaii”.

Love emoticons - the Japanese very often use the heart symbol ♡ in them, placing it on the cheeks, in the hands of the emoticon, or even instead of eyes. Asterisks (*) in context denote embarrassment, as do the hands covering the face emoji. The letter ω (omega) indicates the intention to kiss the interlocutor.

(´ ∀)ノ～ ♡ – an emoji with a raised hand, a tilde and a heart imitates blowing a kiss to the object of your interest.

Σ>―(〃°ω°〃)♡→ – original confession “I fell in love.” Kawaii emoticon pierced by Cupid's arrow.

♡ (˘▽˘>ԅ(˘⌣˘) – a couple in love holding hands with a contented look.

☆⌒ヽ(*’､^*)chu – these three consecutive letters in Japanese are consonant with the sound of a kiss. In practice, it turns out something like the Russian “smack-smack”.

(ﾉ´ z)ノ– a smiley with its entire appearance showing that its sender wants to hug and kiss the recipient well.

A few more options for love emoticons:

Embarrassment emoticons - as mentioned earlier, the most common symbol for this emotion is *, associated with blushing, and/or various signs with lines that imitate hands covering the face and eyes. Alternatively, slashes (////) can be used. This kind of drawing is often used in Japanese animation when it is necessary to show embarrassment on a character's face.

(◡‿◡ *) – a shy emoticon with eyes downcast or closed.
(⁄ ⁄>⁄ ▽ ⁄<⁄ ⁄) – сильное смущение, заставившее покраснеть все лицо человека.

(*/。＼) – an emoticon that is embarrassed or ashamed of something, awkwardly trying to cover its face with its hands.

Other common embarrassment emojis:

Sympathy emoticons are small scenes with two characters. One emoticon acts as a subject who is upset about something, and the second one provides him with support. There is nothing stopping you from taking your favorite faces from other categories and combining them to your liking, making your own kaomoji.

(ノ_<。)ヾ(´ ▽) – довольный жизнерадостный смайлик похлопывает по плечу своего расстроенного друга.

ヽ(￣ω￣(。。)ゝ – a similar situation, but this time a sympathetic comrade puts his hand on the shoulder of a dejected friend.
(ｏ・_・)ノ”(ノ_<、) – заботливое поглаживание по голове.

Japanese emoticons of negative emotions

Emoticons of dissatisfaction - the generally accepted expression of this emotion is considered to be a wrinkled face and/or closed eyes (this convention was transferred to emoticons from anime and manga). The sign # or ^ instead of a mouth, signaling a contemptuously raised lower lip, is perfect for this purpose.

(＃＞＜) - this guy clearly saw something that irritated him and narrowed his eyes with displeasure.

(︶︹︺) - symbolizes a contemptuous person looking at the interlocutor with disdain.

凸(￣ヘ￣) – there is no need to comment anything here. This emoticon not only does not hide its dissatisfaction, but also shows its attitude towards the interlocutor with the help of a world-famous gesture.

<(￣ ﹌ ￣)>– this person clearly does not intend to joke and is ready to sort things out in a raised voice with the subject who caused her dissatisfaction.

Other types of displeasure emoticons:

Anger emoticons are the most negative emotion that is difficult to confuse with any other. At the head of the exposition here are the eyes, which in angry emoticons are usually drawn not in circles, but in lines or sharp shapes with a black fill. To give an even more frightening effect, wrinkles, attributes such as claws or offensive gestures are added.

(‡▼益▼) - an evil grin, a scar on his cheek, black eyes and a wrinkled nose. With its entire appearance, this smiley demonstrates that it is better not to mess with it.
ψ(▼へ▼メ)～→ – the guy with the spear and pitchfork is clearly angry with someone, so it’s better to stay away from him.
(凸ಠ益ಠ)凸– people often associate narrow pupils with anger, irritability and other negative emotions, so they are perfect for this emoticon.
٩(ఠ益ఠ)۶ – clenched fists and a fierce look. This angry emoji symbol not only gets angry, but also doesn't mind taking out its anger on someone.

Sad emojis are among the easiest to display. It is enough to choose symbols so that the eyes look tear-stained, for example, use two letters T. Alternatively, you can draw dash hands that will cover the face. The downturned corners of the mouth and raised eyebrows also clearly hint at a state of despondency.

(μ_μ) – this emoticon has several meanings (depending on the context of the correspondence). In this case, for example, it most closely resembles a face drenched in tears.

(ﾟ，_ゝ｀) – a sad emoticon symbol with a small tear.
(ಥ﹏ಥ) - an emotional emoticon with a trembling mouth, trying with all its might not to cry.

。゜゜(´Ｏ) ゜゜。 – this is no longer just sadness, but real hysteria with a waterfall of tears.

Pain emoticons are usually a closed, suffering grimace, sometimes complemented by all sorts of special effects such as stunning, scratches, scars, etc. Cross-shaped eyes (X, x and others) are well suited for this designation.

~(>_<~) – смайлик, которого мучают головные боли.
(☆_@) – the guy was stunned and given a good black eye.
[ ± _ ± ] – crosses instead of eyes clearly hint that the smiley at the moment would prefer to die, if only his suffering would stop.

(×﹏×) – a wavy mouth in combination with cross-shaped eyes symbolizes repressed painful emotions.

Fear emoticons - a scared emoji can be easily portrayed by choosing the right eyes and hand gestures. Screams, attempts to cover his face, chaotic movements - all this can show how scared a person is (from mild stupor to panic and horror).

(・人・) is a visual illustration of the saying “Fear has big eyes.” A frightened look and pupils narrowed in horror.
＼(º □ º l|l)/ – can be regarded as a call for help or running around shouting “save, help.”

〜(＞＜)〜– the frightened smiley closed its eyes in fear and covered its ears with its hands.
..・ヾ(。＞＜)シ– this smiley is afraid and runs away from something in a panic.

Japanese emoticons of neutral emotions

Emoticons of indifference - expressed in the form of a characteristic shrug of the shoulders or spreading of the arms to the sides. For this purpose, pairs of symbols ┐ ┌ and ╮ ╭ are best suited. Eyes are drawn with narrow horizontal lines or dots. Below you can see several options for displaying your ostentatious indifference.

• ╮(˘ ､ ˘)╭
• ヽ(ー_ー)ノ
• ヽ(´ー)┌
• ┐(‘～)┌
• ヽ(　￣д￣)ノ
• ┐(￣ヘ￣)┌
• ヽ(￣～￣　)ノ
• ╮(￣_￣)╭

Confusion emoticons are ideal if a person needs to show their interlocutor that the message sent to them has greatly puzzled them. For designation, characteristic hand gestures and ellipsis (...) are used, which are symbolic synonyms of the thought process, loading, pause, information processing.

(◎ ◎)ゞ– a seriously puzzled emoticon scratching the top of its head.
ლ(ಠ_ಠ ლ) – the emoji depicts strong mental stress or, depending on the context, an attempt to convey some of your thoughts to your opponent.
(・・) ? – a question mark near the head, a universal symbol of misunderstanding.

(-_-;)・・・– don’t interfere, the person thinks everything over carefully.

Smileys of doubt - this emotion is most easily conveyed by eyes moving to the left or right. Indicative symbols, such as arrows, are used to convey meaning. Several options can be seen below.

• (￢_￢)
• (→_→)
• (￢ ￢)
• (￢‿￢)
• (¬_¬)
• (←_←)
• (¬ ¬)
• (¬‿¬)

Surprise emoticons - are drawn with eyes that are round, white inside or have tiny pupils, sometimes with an open mouth and showing specific hand gestures. The symbol Σ in this context shows a sharp flinch.

(: ౦ ‸ ౦ :) – the smiley is very confused or even stunned by what he sees.

(°ロ°) ! - a combination of two emotions, reflecting the surprise of an exclamation mark and an open mouth in a smile. It shows that the news received suddenly turned out to be pleasant.

(⊙_⊙) – shocked, puzzled, but clearly not happy emoticon.

w(°ｏ°)w – “what the hell,” “how is it like that,” “why did this happen.”

Indication of various actions by Japanese emoticons

Greetings. The easiest way to imitate this action is to raise the right or left hand of the emoticon upward. You can use a special symbol with two small dashes on top (ﾉﾞ), which resembles a welcoming waving of fingers from side to side.

• (￣▽￣)ノ
• (*・ω・)ﾉ
• (°▽°)/
• (´ ∀)ﾉ
• (^-^*)/
• (＠´ー)ﾉﾞ
• (´ ω )ﾉ
• (° ∀ °)ﾉﾞ

Embrace. If you want to show your interlocutor that you are mentally hugging him or just want to express your support to him, use an emoticon with arms spread apart. There are many options - here are just a few.

(づ◡﹏◡)づ – the condescending embrace of a person who simply cannot refuse his interlocutor.
(つ . ́ _ʖ ̀ .)つ– sympathetic hugs. The person is concerned about what he heard from the interlocutor and wants to provide him with support.
(づ￣ ³￣)づ – hugs and kisses.
(づ ◕‿◕)づ – joyful hugs.

Wink. The simplest emotion, to display which you only need to depict one of the eyes of the emoticon closed/squinted, and leave the other open for contrast. A variety of symbols can be used here, it all depends on your creativity.

• (^_~)
• (ﾟｏ⌒)
• (^_-)≡☆
• (^ω~)
• (>ω^)
• (~人^)
• (^_-)
• (-_・)

Apologies. Among the Japanese, it is customary to apologize with a small bow, so emoticons reflect a similar picture. The eyes are drawn small and directed downward, thus depicting repentance. Emoji diversify with various hand gestures.

(シ_ _)シ– hands in motion symbolize repeated bows.
<(_ _)>- a deep bow and admission of guilt.

m(_ _)m – the letters m represent bows from a sitting position. Hands lie on some surface, for example, resting on a table.

Dream. Here the display is not much different from that adopted in Europe. All you have to do is draw closed eyes and add something like Zzzzzz. This letter usually imitates the snoring of a sleeping person.

(x . x) ~~zzZ – the combination of the emotion of sleep and cross-shaped eyes indicates that the object is fast asleep and it will not be easy to wake him up.

(－ω－) zzZ – this emoticon clearly has pleasant dreams.

(＿ ＿*) Z z z – sleep with your face buried in the pillow.

(￣ρ￣)..zzZZ – sleeping with his mouth open and drooling emoticon.

Hide and seek. If you need to depict action where your emoji character is hiding, character sets allow you to do this. The emotions reflected on the face will enlighten the interlocutor about the context of what is happening. Let's give a few examples.

┬┴┬┴┤(･_├┬┴┬┴ – the smiley carefully and with a rather frightened look peeks out from behind the wall, clearly expressing apprehension and concern about what he sees.

┬┴┬┴┤(͡° ͜ʖ├┬┴┬┴ – the famous 4chan meme of Lenny’s face is hiding behind the wall. It is often used by people who want to express their interest or have done something dirty and are now happy with what they have done. You can use it to troll opponents on the forums and in chats.
ヾ(･| – a cautious emoticon calling out to its friend.

Letter. When you need to demonstrate that you are writing something, the φ symbol, which closely resembles a pen, is a great symbol. For paper or any other surface, a simple underline _ is usually used.

ヾ(ー´)シφ__ – an emoticon with hand movements shows that a person is writing something very quickly, in a hurry.
__φ(．．;) – semicolon and small eyes hint at the subject’s concentration.

(^▽^)ψ__ is another spelling option. This time, instead of the symbol φ, the equally suitable ψ is used. True, if used in the wrong context, the image of the writer can be confused with a man sitting with a fork in front of a plate.

Animal emoticons

Cats. As one of the cutest and most adorable creatures on the planet, cats have gained popularity across many cultures. And in Japan, and in general, they have become a real cult (take, for example, all these numerous anime characters with cat ears and tails). There are the most emoticons with cats among kaomoji with animals. Here are some of the best options:

ଲ(ⓛ ω ⓛ)ଲ – large eyes with vertical pupils and sharp claws.
(^˵◕ω◕˵^) – kawaii cat.

ヾ(= ω´=)ノ” – a cat that is angry and scratching about something.

(=ω=)..nyaa – the famous nya is nothing more than a cat’s meow.

Bears. These animals are distinguished by a characteristic muzzle (I) and rounded ears. Other elements, such as raised paws, are added optionally.

ʕ ᵔᴥᵔ ʔ – kawaii little bear.
(／￣(ｴ)￣)／ – a large bear standing on its hind legs and hanging over with its front legs.
ʕ ̀ o ʔ – surprised bear.

Dogs. Dogs in Japanese emoticons have floppy ears, which also serve as the outline of their faces. Eyes are usually depicted as lines or dots of varying sizes.

• ∪＾ェ＾∪
• ∪･ω･∪
• ∪￣-￣∪
• ∪･ｪ･∪
• Ｕ^皿^Ｕ
• ＵＴｪＴＵ
• U^ｪ^U
• V●ᴥ●V
• ∪◣_◢∪
• (▽◕ ᴥ ◕▽)

Spiders. Insects with many legs and eyes require an equally large number of symbols to create a believable emoji representation. Below you can see some original examples.

• /╲/\( ̀ ω ́)/\╱\
• /╲/\╭(ఠఠ益ఠఠ)╮/\╱\
• /╲/\╭(ರರ⌓ರರ)╮/\╱\
• /╲/\╭༼ ººل͟ºº ༽╮/\╱\
• /╲/\╭(͡°͡° ͜ʖ ͡°͡°)╮/\╱\
• /╲/\╭[ ᴼᴼ ౪ ᴼᴼ]╮/\╱\
• /╲/\╭[☉﹏☉]╮/\╱\

Other animals. The list of running, flying and swimming creatures, which are depicted using special symbols and letters of several alphabets, is huge.

(￣(00)￣) – pig. All emoticons with this animal are drawn with an emphasis on the nose. For the nostrils you can also use oo or the ω symbol.

＼(ˋ Θ ´)／– bird. When composing a smiley, be sure to emphasize the beak, which can be round or diamond-shaped.
>°))))彡– being big fans of fish and seafood, the Japanese have added a lot of “fish” emoticons. The fish is drawn with a pointed or open mouth, and brackets are usually used as scales or tail.

≧(° °)≦ – crab, another sea creature. The variant (\/)_(0_0)_(\/) is also common.

Japanese food emoticons

Among the Japanese there are plenty of lovers of good food and drink, which is reflected in the variety of emoji. If you want to depict a smiley face with some kind of drink or dish, there are plenty to choose from.

(o˘◡˘o) ┌iii┐– birthday cake with candles. You can be original by attaching a similar emoticon to your congratulations on a social network.

(・・)つ―()@()@()- is one of many emoticons depicting cooking barbecue.

(*^^)o∀*∀o(^^*) – drinking cocktails together.

(っ˘ڡ˘ς) – licking emoticon. Can be combined with many others depicting different foods and drinks.
(*´з)口ﾟ｡ﾟ口(・∀・) – a couple of emojis with full mugs of beer.

Japanese emoticons with guns

A set of militant emoticons or individual weapons is perfect not only for correspondence, but also for decorating a nickname in Counter-Strike, Warface and other shooters. You are unlikely to be able to find the necessary characters on the keyboard (they simply aren’t there), so just copy the sequence of characters you like from the list below.

(-ω-)／占~~~~~ – a satisfied smiley, ready to spray his enemies with a gas canister.

(^ω^)ノﾞ(((((((((●～* – grenade thrower.

(ﾒ ﾛ ´)︻デ═一– sniper and rifle with a telescopic sight.

(・∀・)・・・———☆ – throwing a throwing star.

Q(`⌒´Q) – this guy doesn’t need a gun, just strong fists will be enough.
―(T_T)→ – the poor fellow was pierced by an enemy spear.
(/・・)ノ　　 ((く ((へ– boomerang throw.

(ﾒ￣▽￣)︻┳═一 – machine gunner.

Other emoticons from symbols

This section contains emoticons that do not belong to specific categories and are not often used. However, they can be quite useful in some situations.

٩(ˊ〇ˋ*)و – waking up emoticon.

(￣^￣)ゞ– stood in line and saluted (army salute).

(－‸ლ) – with a palm on the face (the famous facepalm meme).

(╯°益°)╯彡┻━┻ – an expression of intense anger, the emoticon turns the table.

(╮°-°)╮┳━━┳ (╯°□°)╯ ┻━━┻ – a more detailed version of what happened in the previous picture.

┬─┬ノ(º _ ºノ) – carefully put the furniture back (if the interlocutor used one of the two previous emoticons, you can answer him).

(oT-T)尸– a tear-stained emoticon with a raised white flag, depicting surrender.

[̲̅$̲̅(̲̅ ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°̲̅)̲̅$̲̅] is one of the options for the money emoticon.

౦０o ｡ (‾́。‾́)y~~ – emoticon with the image of a smoker.

(￣﹃￣) – the emoticon hints that its sender is hungry or drooling over some delicacy.

(x(x_(x_x(O_o)x_x)_x)x) – a crowd of zombies behind a living person.

(　･ω･)☞ – direction-indicating emoticon.

(⌐■_■) – just a sunglasses emoji.

(◕‿◕✿) – a female emoticon with a flower in her hair.

(　￣.)o-【　TV　】– a viewer watching TV shows with a remote control in his hand.

｀、ヽ(ノ＞＜)ノ ｀、ヽ｀☂ヽ– the wind carried away the poor man’s umbrella during the rain.

‿︵‿ヽ(°□°)ノ︵‿︵ – a drowning emoticon screaming for help.

( )( )ԅ(≖‿≖ԅ) – the guy is getting ready to feel the charms of his girlfriend.

(＾▽＾)っ✂╰⋃╯– castration/circumcision (depending on the context of use).

〜〜(／￣▽)／　〜f – running after butterflies.

ଘ(੭ˊ꒳​ˋ)੭✧– angel with wings.

∠(ᐛ 」∠)＿ – emoticon lying on its side and watching something.

Conclusion

Recently, cool emoticons made from symbols have lost their relevance during online correspondence. Now almost all social networks, forums, instant messengers and other types of resources provide their own sets of emoticons/stickers, which illustrate the desired emotions much more colorfully. However, creative people can always find uses for thousands of different character sequences. In online games and chats, a nickname decorated with symbols will look great.

P.S. If you want to create your own emoticon or find original symbols for your emoji, you can use one of the many databases on the Internet. Convenient catalogs present a huge number of options on a variety of topics. As for portable devices on Android and iOS, there is a special application for complex text emoticons that allows you to find and insert a prepared text emoticon into the text in a couple of clicks.

Emoji have become one of the pillars of modern Internet communication, and it is already difficult to imagine electronic correspondence without the use of emoticons. New images appear every few months, and the first set of emojis was even included in the collection of the Museum of Modern Art in New York. But it turns out that most of us use them incorrectly.

Lost in translation

A study conducted by e2save and published by The Daily Mail found that only one in five people can interpret emoji correctly. However, most people find it difficult to verbally describe emoticons and the emotions they convey.

According to the study, around 82% of Brits regularly use emojis, with 44% doing so to clarify the meaning of a message. Respondents were asked to explain the meaning of the 20 most “confusing” emoji. Only 19% of respondents managed to do this. And only 44% of respondents were able to correctly explain the meaning of emoticons.

There are five emojis that confuse people the most.

Most people (69%) believe that a face with smoke coming from its nostrils expresses anger or irritation. In fact, this emoticon symbolizes a sigh of relief after the frustration experienced.

A face with wide eyes, an open mouth and raised eyebrows is often used to show surprise (at least 66% of respondents do). However, according to the original idea, it depicts a silent person.

Another 62% believe that a frowning face with a teardrop signifies frustration. But that's not true. Its original meaning is to show "relief after disappointment."

And while 57% of people believe that clasped hands mean prayer or supplication, the emoji was created to express gratitude.

The image of a woman with her hands above her head is also confusing. Most people (55%) think she's surprised, but it actually means "okay."

Other emojis also cause identification difficulties - a cat's face, a horn, a devil's mask, and so on.

The emoticons in the top row mean (from left to right): yawn, surprised cat, devil. Middle row: high five, message delivery, sleepy, feeling unwell. In the bottom row: impulse to do something, dizziness, impudence, decorating baked goods.

“With so much interest in icons, it is surprising that many of us misunderstand their meaning. Apparently, we should be more careful about choosing emoji before sending them,” said e2save marketer Andy Cartledge.

New collection

The other day, the Unicode Consortium announced that in 2017, humanity will receive a new set of 51 emoji. Among them there will be a vampire, a pretzel, a sandwich, an “I love you” gesture, a flying saucer, broccoli, a coconut and others. The full list can be found

Apparently, the creators of emoji are trying to bring them closer to diverse social and national groups of people. Thus, the new set includes a woman in a hijab, a man with a very long beard and a mother breastfeeding her child.

On the other hand, there are many mythical characters on the list - in addition to those mentioned, these are fairies, mermaids of both sexes, a genie and zombies.

And of course, there was food and animals. A giraffe, a zebra, a hedgehog, a tyrannosaurus, canned food and a cup with a straw are already waiting for their finest hour. As for the emoticon faces themselves, the new set may bring even more confusion to the ranks of users.

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What does this or that Emoji mean? Many people ask this question because it is not always clear what a smile means. Emoji with two hands together, for example. What does this emoticon mean? Is it two people giving each other a high five? Or is it someone praying? If you sometimes doubt what an Emoji means, then we have prepared some tips that will help you answer this question.

How to Find Out What an Emoji Means on Your Mac

There are several ways to find out the meaning of an emoji smiley on your Mac.

The first method is quite simple:

Step 1: In the Messages app on your Mac, tap an emoji to open the Emoji keyboard.

Step 2: Find the emoji whose meaning you want to know.

Step 3: Hover your cursor over an Emoji and after a couple of seconds, you will see a tooltip with a description of this smiley.

Second way:

Step 1: In any application, go to Menu Bar > Edit > Emoji Icons and Symbols (or Special Characters in some versions of OS X). This will bring up a window with all the symbols present on your computer.

Step 2: Select Emoji in the left sidebar.

Step 3: Select the Emoji whose meaning you want to know and click on it.

Step 4: On the right side, you will be presented with the meaning of this Emoji.

Find out what Emoji means using iPhone

If on a Mac you can easily find out what a smiley emoji means, then on an iPhone, iPad or iPod touch this is more difficult to do. We're going to use the feature to say the name of the emoji out loud.

Please note that for some reason, this feature is not available on iOS 9, but it still works on older ones iOS versions. It is not known why Apple removed this feature, it may have been a mistake and they will be bringing it back in the future.

Step 1: On your iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch, go to menu Settings > General > Accessibility > Speech and turn it on Pronunciation.

Step 2: Create a new email or note and insert the Emoji whose meaning you want to know.

Step 3: Select an emoticon and select “Say” in the menu. Siri will say the name and symbol of the emoji.

Use the Emoji Dictionary app

IN App Store There are many apps that have emoji descriptions, but one of the simplest and free applications is Emoji Dictionary. Download the app and see the meaning of your favorite Emoji. Unfortunately, this app hasn't been updated since January 2015, so the Emoji list is a bit out of date. For example, it does not include the latest Emoji, .

Emoticons have become such a part of our lives that without them the alphabet looks incomplete, and messages seem dry and distant. But even such a frivolous and childishly simple task as arranging emojis has its own subtleties.

What do different emoticons mean?

With object emoticons, everything is simple: they mean what they represent. A ball is a ball, an alarm clock is an alarm clock, and there’s nothing to think about. But with face emoticons the task becomes more complicated. We are not always able to correctly guess emotions from the faces of living people, let alone the faces of koloboks. There are emoticons whose meaning is obvious:

Fun, laughter, joy, rejoicing.

Sadness, melancholy, melancholy, dissatisfaction.

Playful mood, teasing.

Surprise, amazement, shock, fear.

Anger, resentment, rage.

And a few more similar ones - that's all possible options families and romantic unions.

But among the emoticons there are also those whose meaning can be interpreted ambiguously, or even be completely confusing:

This emoticon depicts a person sobbing in three - well, in two - streams, however, in the version for Apple devices, due to raised eyebrows and a mouth that is not distorted from sobs, he is often perceived as laughing to the point of tears. Be careful with them: you want to indicate grief to them, but they will misunderstand you.

This emoticon is intended to represent silence. Instead, he just scares you to death.

If everything is more or less clear with the evil devil (“angry as hell”), then the cheerful devil is somewhat puzzling. Most likely, he is not only furious, but also looking forward to dancing on your opponent’s grave. But you, perhaps, just wanted to show originality and an unusual smiley.

Despite the fact that the three wise monkeys did not see, hear or speak anything precisely because of their wisdom, these muzzles cover their eyes, mouth and ears in shame, confusion and shock.

A set of cat emoticons for those who consider ordinary koloboks to be insufficiently expressive and want to add sweetness to their emotions.

Instead of “hello” and “bye,” you can wave your hand.

Raised hands, a gesture of joyful greeting or jubilation.

The applause is both sincere and sarcastic.

If in this picture you see hands folded in a prayer gesture, then for you the emoji may mean “thank you” or “I beg you.” Well, if you see a high-five happening here, it means you are a very cheerful person.

A raised index finger can emphasize the importance of a message or express a request to interrupt the interlocutor with a question, or it can simply indicate a previous message in the chat.

Fingers crossed for luck.

For some it’s “stop”, but for others it’s “high five!”

No, it's not a truffle. Not even a truffle at all.

Ogre and Japanese goblin. Looks like someone is missing the usual devils.

Liar. His nose grows like Pinocchio's every time he lies.

These are eyes wide with amazement, and the darting eyes of a scoundrel, and even a lustful look. If someone sends you such an emoticon in a comment to a photo, you can be sure that the photo is good.

And it's just an eye, and it's watching you.

New moon and full moon. It seems like nothing special, but these emoticons have their fans who appreciate them for their creepy facial expressions.

A very common girl in purple. Her gestures mean OK (arms above her head), no (crossed arms), hello, or I know the answer (raised hand). This character has another pose that confuses many - . By official version, it symbolizes the worker help desk. Apparently, she shows with her hand how to get to the city library.

Do you also see two tense faces here, presumably in an unfriendly mood? But they didn’t guess: according to Apple’s hints, this is an embarrassed face and a stubborn face. Who would have thought!

By the way, you can see hints for emoticons in the message window on if you open an emoji and hover over the emoticon you are interested in. Like this:

Another way to find out the meaning of an emoticon is to turn to emojipedia.org for help. On it you will find not only detailed interpretations of emoticons, but you can also see how the same emoticon looks on different platforms. Many unexpected discoveries await you.

Where are emoticons appropriate?

1. In informal friendly correspondence

Funny yellow faces are appropriate in a personal chat, where you share not so much information as your mood. With the help of emoticons, you will laugh at a joke, sympathize, and make faces at each other. This is where emotions belong.

2. When emotions splash over the edge and there are not enough words

Sometimes, when something very important happens in our lives, our feelings overwhelm us so much that we are about to burst. Then we write an emotional post on Facebook or post a dazzling photo on Instagram and decorate it with a generous scattering of emoticons. Some people, of course, won’t like this, but what now, stifling all the bright sensations in yourself? The main thing is not to overuse such public displays of violent emotions: this will alienate subscribers and call into question your adequacy.

3. By agreement, to highlight messages in work correspondence

This is a very simple and convenient way to make important messages that require an urgent response visible. For example, great for these purposes. But you need to agree in advance which cases are considered urgent in your company and what emoticon you will use for this.

It is important not to overdo it: if you have one emoticon for messages about emergency situations, a second for urgent issues, a third for important news, then soon all work correspondence will turn into a New Year's garland that no one looks at.

When is it better to do without emoticons?

1. In business correspondence

Work is no place for emotions. Here you are required to be calm, collected and professional. Even if you want to emphasize your friendliness or express concern about a situation, use , not emoticons, for these purposes.

2. When communicating with foreigners

This is especially true for gesture emoticons. For example, the person you wanted to express approval of will put an end to your good relationship with a person from Greece or Thailand. Of course, with this gesture you sent him to hell.

Therefore, if you are not confident in your deep knowledge of the peculiarities of the national culture of your interlocutor, do not take risks.

3. Oddly enough, when you discuss feelings and emotions

Feelings are a serious matter. If you are not just chatting, but revealing your soul or sharing something important, words will convey your feelings and experiences much more accurately than emoticons. “You are dearer to me than anyone in the world” means much more than ten hearts in a row. In the end, you only have one heart, so give it away.

Remember that emojis are a seasoning, not the main ingredient. You only need a small amount to add punch to your message.

Emoji language

Judging by the fact that today almost no personal correspondence is complete without emoticons, we can safely say that emoji have become an independent section of the language. Sometimes they even pretend to replace language: you can write an entire message using only emoticons. In the popular American TV show Ellen DeGeneres there is even a special section in which guests are invited to read a phrase where some of the words are replaced with emoji:

And here the name of the film is encrypted, which we invite you to guess.