5 ms·

Caution- These emoji mean different things in different countries

28 points by donohoe 5y ago

klyrs 5y ago
Reader mode fixes the annoying way they've broken scrolling. Amusingly, the last set bemoans the blood-filled syringe being replaced with a clear liquid, but shows the blood-filled syringe... same for the pistol, I see a revolver in the article, not the toy they describe. As always, emoji interpretation doesn't just depend on culture, but on the software context that it's displayed in...
- jraph 5y ago
  > Reader mode fixes the annoying way they've broken scrolling. It's amazing the bullshit I unknowingly avoid by blocking Javascript by default. Worth a try for anyone who hasn't yet, just re-enable it as needed and after a few days you'll almost stop noticing because you will have re-enabled it on websites you regularly visit and that need JS. Your computer will be a fan, and your fan will remain quiet. I highly recommend uBlock Origin for this. I've already said this on HN several times but I call this "progressive degradation" (have a perfect baseline, and degrade it with more advanced technology). [1,2,3] [1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20898947 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20898947 [2] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23874802 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23874802 [3] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23108022 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23108022
  - ncmncm 5y ago
    Indeed, all the agonizing over ad-tracking goes right over my head, because the only ads I ever encounter anymore are when a vlogger mentions their sponsor. I use NoScript, which involves a little more engagement than Ublock Origin. It is remarkably helpful how tracking "services" label themselves for easy filtering. Of course this starts with Google Analytics. The article fails to mention the laughing face often misused by boomers in response to tragic news. But that is only metaphorically geographical.
    - jraph 5y ago
      > the only ads I ever encounter anymore are when a vlogger mentions their sponsor You may like SponsorBlock if you don't know this browser extension yet.
- skocznymroczny 5y ago
  Yeah, I'm confused too. I bet they assume iOS emojis are what everyone sees. With Chrome under Windows, I see blood syringe, but also see a water gun.
ksec 5y ago
Off-Topic Interesting, Safari treat each section as its own page and if you scroll up and down your back button will be filled with all those pages and press back go back to those sections. Chrome does the same as it is listed in the back button history, but pressing it go back to previous site / webpage rather than section. Not sure which one is the correct implementation.
leshenka 5y ago
Remember that if anyone tells you that "ok hand" is a far right "white power" sign — they've fallen for 4chan meme.
- mweberxyz 5y ago
  White supremacists took the 4chan meme and ran with it. Even if it started as a meme, it's now reality.
  - 1cvmask 5y ago
    Even Trump posted on Joe Biden using it: https://twitter.com/TrumpWarRoom/status/1311701500880617478 https://twitter.com/TrumpWarRoom/status/1311701500880617478 Nancy Pelosi just used it recently. It is a universal symbol used all over the world for zero, nada and A-OK etc….
dzonga 5y ago
I gotta hit the back button like so many times, to go back to the referring page. what the hell ?
ekianjo 5y ago
> And the infamous is actually a symbol of good luck. No, not always. If you want to signify good luck you would use the golden unko instead. Too many generalities in this pseudo-article.
phone8675309 5y ago
Love getting my listicle fix on Hacker News. Next you'll be telling me I shouldn't be ordering an Irish Car Bomb[1] at a bar in Belfast. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irish_Car_Bomb https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irish_Car_Bomb
culpable_pickle 5y ago
From the first page, “Similarly, in Mexico, — often taken to mean “solidarity” or “resistance” elsewhere — is actually closer to giving someone the middle finger in the U.S. (Technically, it bids the receiver to do something unconscionable to their own mother.)” I have never heard of being offensive, nor would I have considered it such receiving it. Has anyone else found this to be true?
- snypher 5y ago
  I think fist-fingers-out has a 'resist' meaning but a fist-fingers-in can be used as a 'polite' middle finger. I've never seen someone in the USA use it that way, but I have in Australia.
jraph 5y ago
> Another example is [the prayer emoji], which is commonly interpreted as a high-five in many Western countries I live in a western country and I didn't know that. It seems to mean please or thank you in the team I work with.
skocznymroczny 5y ago
Weird, I always viewed praying hands as praying hands. but then, for a decade I thought <3 is kissing lips seen from the side, rather than apparently a heart.

28 points by donohoe 5y ago

Reader mode fixes the annoying way they've broken scrolling. Amusingly, the last set bemoans the blood-filled syringe being replaced with a clear liquid, but shows the blood-filled syringe... same for the pistol, I see a revolver in the article, not the toy they describe. As always, emoji interpretation doesn't just depend on culture, but on the software context that it's displayed in...

jraph 5y ago
> Reader mode fixes the annoying way they've broken scrolling. It's amazing the bullshit I unknowingly avoid by blocking Javascript by default. Worth a try for anyone who hasn't yet, just re-enable it as needed and after a few days you'll almost stop noticing because you will have re-enabled it on websites you regularly visit and that need JS. Your computer will be a fan, and your fan will remain quiet. I highly recommend uBlock Origin for this. I've already said this on HN several times but I call this "progressive degradation" (have a perfect baseline, and degrade it with more advanced technology). [1,2,3] [1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20898947 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20898947 [2] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23874802 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23874802 [3] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23108022 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23108022
- ncmncm 5y ago
  Indeed, all the agonizing over ad-tracking goes right over my head, because the only ads I ever encounter anymore are when a vlogger mentions their sponsor. I use NoScript, which involves a little more engagement than Ublock Origin. It is remarkably helpful how tracking "services" label themselves for easy filtering. Of course this starts with Google Analytics. The article fails to mention the laughing face often misused by boomers in response to tragic news. But that is only metaphorically geographical.
  - jraph 5y ago
    > the only ads I ever encounter anymore are when a vlogger mentions their sponsor You may like SponsorBlock if you don't know this browser extension yet.
skocznymroczny 5y ago
Yeah, I'm confused too. I bet they assume iOS emojis are what everyone sees. With Chrome under Windows, I see blood syringe, but also see a water gun.

ksec 5y ago

Off-Topic Interesting, Safari treat each section as its own page and if you scroll up and down your back button will be filled with all those pages and press back go back to those sections. Chrome does the same as it is listed in the back button history, but pressing it go back to previous site / webpage rather than section. Not sure which one is the correct implementation.

leshenka 5y ago

Remember that if anyone tells you that "ok hand" is a far right "white power" sign — they've fallen for 4chan meme.

mweberxyz 5y ago
White supremacists took the 4chan meme and ran with it. Even if it started as a meme, it's now reality.
- 1cvmask 5y ago
  Even Trump posted on Joe Biden using it: https://twitter.com/TrumpWarRoom/status/1311701500880617478 https://twitter.com/TrumpWarRoom/status/1311701500880617478 Nancy Pelosi just used it recently. It is a universal symbol used all over the world for zero, nada and A-OK etc….

dzonga 5y ago

I gotta hit the back button like so many times, to go back to the referring page. what the hell ?

ekianjo 5y ago

> And the infamous is actually a symbol of good luck. No, not always. If you want to signify good luck you would use the golden unko instead. Too many generalities in this pseudo-article.

phone8675309 5y ago

Love getting my listicle fix on Hacker News. Next you'll be telling me I shouldn't be ordering an Irish Car Bomb[1] at a bar in Belfast. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irish_Car_Bomb https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irish_Car_Bomb

culpable_pickle 5y ago

From the first page, “Similarly, in Mexico, — often taken to mean “solidarity” or “resistance” elsewhere — is actually closer to giving someone the middle finger in the U.S. (Technically, it bids the receiver to do something unconscionable to their own mother.)” I have never heard of being offensive, nor would I have considered it such receiving it. Has anyone else found this to be true?

snypher 5y ago
I think fist-fingers-out has a 'resist' meaning but a fist-fingers-in can be used as a 'polite' middle finger. I've never seen someone in the USA use it that way, but I have in Australia.

jraph 5y ago

> Another example is [the prayer emoji], which is commonly interpreted as a high-five in many Western countries I live in a western country and I didn't know that. It seems to mean please or thank you in the team I work with.

skocznymroczny 5y ago

Weird, I always viewed praying hands as praying hands. but then, for a decade I thought <3 is kissing lips seen from the side, rather than apparently a heart.