Turns out, explaining an emoji is a very real part of texting today. Here’s a fun breakdown of the emojis that mean different things across generations.
Emojis are a big part of how we talk online. It’s almost hard to imagine texting someone without throwing one in because a message without an emoji can sometimes feel oddly serious or even a little rude. But if you’re Gen Z and you’ve ever worked with someone from an older generation, you’ve probably had that one conversation where someone stops to ask, “Wait… why did you send that emoji?” I still remember having to explain to a colleague why I had replied to a meme with the loudly crying emoji instead of the laughing one. His response was, “If that’s not for crying, then what am I supposed to send when I’m actually crying?” It turned into a surprisingly long conversation about emoji etiquette, and it got me thinking about how every generation seems to have created its own meaning for the same Emojis.
And honestly I keep coming back to this thought because it says a lot about how big the gap really is between generations when it comes to something as small as an emoji. So here’s a list of some of the most misunderstood emojis out there, and how different generations actually use them.
Every emoji means something different for every generation
Loudly crying face ðŸ˜
There was a time when this emoji was only for genuinely sad situations. Then the internet decided it was somehow even better for things that are hilarious. Now, if you reply to a meme with it, almost everyone knows you’re laughing. Use it because you’re actually crying and you might be the one getting misunderstood.
