Emoji dictionary
8=D
or penis emoticon [pee-nis ih-moh-ti-kon]
What does 8=D mean?
Don’t be tricked. 8=D is not a smiley: It’s an emoticon depiction of a penis.
Where does 8=D come from?
8=D is a penis made with typographical symbols, the emoji precursors known as emoticons. These date back to the 1980s, often credited to a Carnegie Mellon professor, Dr. Scott Fahlman, who proposed in 1982 the classic smiley :-) to indicate something content was joking in a digital message and :-( when it wasn’t.
Exactly when 8=D, um, arises, isn’t exactly clear, but it appeared on an adult Usenet group as early as 2000 to advertise porn websites and phone sex hotlines. The number 8 is intended to represent testicles, the equals sign (=) the shaft, and the letter D the tip of a penis. The symbol spread on early chat programs like AOL Instant Messenger in the 1990s. Variants include 8=> or 3=D.
While emoji largely usurped emoticons by the 2010s, there has never been an official Unicode representation of a penis. Users are resourceful, however, and so many took to the eggplant emoji (🍆), among other phallic emoji foods like banana (🍌) and hot dog (🌭) , to continue the legacy of 8=D.
Examples of 8=D
Who uses 8=D?
8=D stills sees occasional use online and in text messages as a stand in for “penis,” often for humorous, sexual, or even just downright random ends.
Girls who mention "he has a small dick" while her and her bf broken up, but u see they back together..😂 Sis, either u lyin or u like it 8=D
— TAINAHRAE (@tainahras) August 21, 2018
Occasionally, additional equals signs are used to lengthen the intended penis, e.g., 8====D. Some even add others symbols, like the tilde, after the D to represent ejaculation, e.g., 8===D~~~.
Are they soft enough for Simons 8===D
— ☃️ lickle elbow ⛄❄️ (@LickleElbow) August 27, 2018
Some old-school internet users and anti-emoji hipsters may or reference 8=D for nostalgic effect.
No one hates the eggplant emoji more than this guy: 8===D .
— Comedy Central (@ComedyCentral) November 3, 2016
Note
This is not meant to be a formal definition of 8=D like most terms we define on Dictionary.com, but is rather an informal word summary that hopefully touches upon the key aspects of the meaning and usage of 8=D that will help our users expand their word mastery.