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By Oatmilk
Introduction
Since their arrival in digital communication and the more widespread use of the internet, emojis have often been depicted as silly pictures with little to no relevance. If you, the reader, do hold emojis to such a simplistic regard, I hope to convince you that they are far more than just cute pictograms and that they should be considered a new way of conveying depth, meaning, and nuance. In this article, we will explore how these layers of meaning are interwoven into cultural contexts, social groups and emotionalities.
The Use of Emoji
One thing I believe most emoji users are familiar with is how they help enhance the emotions we are trying to convey through text. In this context, emojis can replace entire strings of words or sentences to communicate one’s emotions.
See the difference between these two examples, one with no emoji and one with an emoji.
I forgot to buy butter again.
I forgot to buy butter again 😭
The first sentence feels like a simple factual statement, while the second is easily interpreted as the speaker being sad or annoyed to have forgotten the butter.
This ability to convey emotions also comes with a lot of nuance. Entire sentences will be interpreted differently depending on the emoji that follows them:
We’re out of oat milk 😤(speaker may sound angry)
We’re out of oat milk 🙄 (passive aggressive remark)
We’re out of oat milk 😭 (utter despair, this person probably loves oat milk a lot)
We’re out of oat milk 💀 (sarcastic death, the speaker is inconvenienced but not pissed off)
Importance of Background in Interpreting Emoji
These interpretations however, are not universal. Depending on the reader’s own background, cultural context, and history, the previous examples may be interpreted in completely different ways. For some, the 😄 emoji may convey simple satisfaction and happiness, and for others, it can make the text sound ironic, uncanny or even take on the tone of a mocking older person. This means that one can’t simply send an emoji to someone expecting them to understand their intentions. Instead, the text should be tailored to the target’s level of understanding. Just like you would hardly use slang with your boomer boss, you wouldn’t send them “This customer really thought he owned the place 💀”.
New Meanings For Emoji
Additionally, in many contexts certain emojis have transcended their original meaning and are not just used to refer to the emotion or object that they initially represented. These contexts are varied as long as they create their own culture and references. They can be group chats, online forums, or entire social media platforms. Since they are based on the culture of a certain group, they are also bound to the characteristics of that group, whether it be age, language, nationality, religion, etc.
These new meanings can express complex ideas that require prior knowledge in order to be fully grasped. Here are some examples:
💀 can express sarcasm, laughter, inconvenience, shock, incredulity
😭 may seem like it refers to sadness, but in certain contexts can refer to incredulity and astonishment like “What the f*ck is this??”
🥵 something hot or sexy
🙏 can express good wishes, gratitude
💅🏼 can express bitchiness, sassiness
😤 initially referring to a expression of triumph, can be used to express anger or irritation
Emojis can also sometimes refer to an already established word or expression rather than a reaction such as with:
🚩referring to “red flags” in someone’s personality or behavior
🧢 / 🚫🧢 respectively “cap” and “no cap”
🅱 which has a lot of history
Combining Emojis to Have New Meanings
Emojis can also be combined to express something new such as with 👁️👄👁️ which can have multiple meanings such as astonishment or reluctant acceptance. It is also impossible to forget about 😳👉👈 or just 👉👈 referring to shyness.
In more controversial contexts emojis are sometimes used to voluntarily make a discreet reference or sometimes even to avoid censorship by using emojis only the intended audience is supposed to understand:
🍆 & 🍑 now infamously referring to sexual body parts in order to not break guidelines on social media
🤏 sometimes used to refer to small “body parts”
The 🍚🐰 combination used in mainland China to avoid censorship while joining the #MeToo movement (in Mandarin, rice “Mǐ” and rabbit “Tù” sounding similar to “Me Too”)
🍉 to refer to Palestine in places where its mention is censored or controversial
🐵 or any kind of monkey related emojis have sometimes been used as dog whistles for racist discourse
Conclusion
Emojis are fascinating and unexpectedly complex, packed with information that is heavily dependent on the context of both the speaker and reader. This dependence on context and mutual understanding is probably what makes it such an interesting phenomenon but also what makes emojis such misunderstood communication tools that are sometimes looked down upon. It is easy to see how they can improve the depth of written forms of communication. In this case wouldn’t it be beneficial for all of us if emojis were more widely accepted in formal settings? It might sound silly to picture, but what would the worlds of journalism, academia or even literature look like if their users added emojis to their texts? Next time you use emojis with your family, friends, or online, try to see how the emojis you send have their own history you can almost retrace.
I would also like to mention that this article kept its focus on pre-existing unicode emojis, and user based custom emojis like cursed emojis have not been touched upon. These custom pieces of information have their own added layers of nuance and meaning like in this tweet:
About Oatmilk
23-year-old French queer person who’s been living in the Netherlands for a few years. Currently a master’s student in Social Sciences Research and part-time barista while studying Dutch and Turkish on the side. Loves playing video games, watching movies, and reading philosophy, sociology, or science fiction.