The alien emoji was added to Unicode in 2010 to suggest that something is “out of this world,” whether representing actual extraterrestrial life or, more often, describing weird, strange, or far-out behavior.
But, it’s since been used in other, more disparaging ways … any ideas?
Sometimes, people use the alien emoji 👽 in discriminatory ways online to talk about or call out those who are “illegal aliens,” or undocumented immigrants.
Calling a person a nonnative person an alien is considered disparaging and offensive, as it dehumanizes them.
The nail polish emoji 💅 is often used to highlight an impressive manicure or fancy outfit. But, it also has a more figurative use. What could be figurative about nail polish? Let’s see …
Adam Sternbergh observed in New York magazine in November 2014 people had begun to use the nail polish emoji 💅 to mean “I’m not bothered” or “haters gonna hate.”
The sassy sense of the nail polish emoji 💅 had indeed become so popular that BuzzFeed declared 2014 “the year of the nail care emoji.”
Learn more about the meanings of nail polish 💅 emoji here.
The fire emoji 🔥, yes, can represent actual fires, firefighting, and fire safety. But, it’s so much more.
The emoji is commonly used to praise someone or something, signifying that a person, object, album, movie, or so on is “lit,” a slang term to describe something that is “exceptionally cool or great.”
The fire emoji 🔥 can also be used to convey that someone is “hot,” slang for “attractive” or “sexy,”
The goat emoji 🐐 can stand in for the farmyard animal. Bahh. But, what does the goat emoji figuratively mean? Any ideas, kids? (See what we did there … kids?)
The goat emoji very often stands for GOAT, an acronym meaning Greatest Of All Time. It is generally used in reference to highly-skilled individuals, especially talented athletes and award-winning musicians, in order to praise them as being the all-time best in their chosen field.
Learn more about the goat emoji 🐐 here.
The face without mouth emoji 😶 shows a yellow smiley without a mouth. That means speechlessness, right?
Yes, the emoji can mark when someone is at a loss of words, maybe because they are astounded or extremely upset.
It can also indicate many other things, such as being sheepish or humble, feeling sad or lonely, or many other sentiments that are … more than words can convey.
The people with bunny ears emoji 👯 is widely used by women (its default form features women, though men with bunny ears is available) to indicate that they are having a good time or going out with close girlfriends.
However, there’s more to this story. Do bunny-eared-women suggest anything to you culturally?
The people with bunny ears emoji 👯 is based on Japanese bunny girls, an adaptation of the iconic US Playboy Bunnies, from Playboy magazine. In Japan, the costume is popular in anime, manga, and fan art as well as, true to the original concept, adult entertainment.
Learn more about this emoji’s usage here.
Warning: adult content ahead.
The sweat droplets emoji 💦 is used to represent just that, sweat droplets, as when comics illustrate a character is exercised (or exercising).
But, that’s not the only type of fluid the sweat droplets emoji can represent—and no, we don’t mean water. So, be emoji-literate: the sweat droplets is sometimes purposed to convey sexual fluids, such as paired with …
Warning: adult content ahead.
The eggplant emoji 🍆, yes, is meant to illustrate the fruit of the eggplant. (Yes, eggplant is a fruit.)
But, in popular use, it almost never represent the purple produce. Thanks to its phallic shape, it is most commonly used to represent a penis. The more you know 🌠 …
Emoji usages get very creative, to say the least. 🙃
Like upside-down face emoji 🙃, added to emoji keyboards in 2015. It instantly became a go-to way to express silliness or sarcasm in text messages and social media posts, as stand-in for jk (“just kidding”).
But, some people use this emoji to express the idea of “smiling through the pain,” a kind of existential “Why me?!” or shrugging “Oh well …”
This emoji is perfect for when someone is frustrated with their circumstances but is powering through it—with a sense of ironic detachment—in spite of it all.
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