Friday Fun: What emoji is a mystery to you?

Tyler T
Atlassian Team
Atlassian Team members are employees working across the company in a wide variety of roles.
March 17, 2022

 

Are there any emojis that you are confused by? The latest smart phones contain over 200 emojis.

Autosuggested emojis 😎

Depending on your phone settings, you may see emojis suggested when you compose a text or email. I'm not Australian, but as an Atlassian the Aussie talk has grown on me a bit. I was always confused by the odd emoji that appeared when typing the word "mate". I thought it was a coconut juice drink or something.

Mate is a super common word which means friend. Example: "G'day, mate!"

 

IMG_2369 (1).jpg

 

So, what the heck is that thing?

 

Screenshot 2022-03-16 at 10.37.50 AM.png

Understanding the mate emoji

It wasn't until I visited the incredible country of Argentina that I discovered the meaning of the coconut looking container.

Here is the definition from Emojipedia:

Mate is a caffeinated beverage popular in many South American countries. Green in color (from a key ingredient: the dried leaves of yerba mate) and consumed via a metal straw.

This drink is commonly referred to as yerba mate in English, and sometimes spelled maté (to distinguish from a mate, as in friend).

It is important to note that maté refers to the vessel, whereas the beverage (or ingredients) are the yerba. It is pronounced "maw-tay"; the accent helps.

Learning about maté

Yerba Mate isn't just a drink in Argentina.. it's a culture. Once you notice it, you will realize that people everywhere in those countries are enjoying their Yerba Mate. Locals have special carrying cases to hold their maté and thermos with hot water. People drink Yerba Mate day and night... in the park, on the bus, and even in the airport! It is common for couples to share a maté and pour fresh hot water for one another.

Finding maté

The funny thing is that it is really difficult to find cafes that offer mate. It is a personal thing. Gas stations literally have hot water dispensers by the gas pumps and bags of yerba in the store, but you need your own maté!

While visiting Bariloche (highly recommended), my partner and I did a maté Airbnb Experience which is basically a tour.

IMG_0949 (1).jpg

We learned a lot during our maté session. We learned that mates are very personal and everyone has their own preferences. We were also told that Uruguayans typically have larger mates than Argentinians. People in southern Brazil enjoy Yerba Mate as well.

A lot of yerba is grown in the Misiones area of South America which has more of a jungle environment. It is more bitter than tea you might be used to. Drinking it has many health benefits, including suppressing your appetite because it is filling. Argentina has a very different meal schedule than the US but that's another story.

At any rate, there is a lot to learn about maté. I'm sure there are some folks in the Community that might correct me and add more information - I'm still learning!

Emojis are international

Who knew there was so much to learn about one emoji?! A thing I thought was a coconut is an important aspect of daily life for many people.

As the world becomes more connected through technology, it is exciting that we are exposed to different cultures through emojis.

Share your mystery emoji

Have you had a similar experience?

What emojis do you find mysterious?

What emojis have you learned the meaning of recently?

 

Thanks for reading and have a fun Friday!

15 comments

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Marjorie
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March 17, 2022

First I want to say.... THANK YOU for teaching me something new.  I love Yerba Mate tea and now I know the origin. 

Have you had a similar experience? Yes, what are those curli cues?  Double Curly Loop.  means, reel-to-reel tap recorder. I am not sure those are used outside of a movie theater any more.

What emojis do you find mysterious? I find many mysterious.  So... I found a site that describes the meaning of emojis and started looking up different emojis. :) These are my go to emojis.

  • 😅 Grinning Face with Sweat
  • 🤣 Rolling on the Floor Laughing
  • 😂 Face with Tears of Joy

What emojis have you learned the meaning of recently? I knew the flags existed. I just wasn't sure I would ever need to use one. I think this one is on my mind lately Flag: Ukraine on Samsung One UI 4.0 January 2022

I guess I learned how to use bitmoji and that is my absolute favorite emojis to use now. Happy St. Patrick's Day from the USA where we celebrate this holiday with parades and green beer.

321b73ca-3df4-48b8-8335-78cb41ef765f.jpg

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Tyler T
Atlassian Team
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March 17, 2022

Cool! I hadn't noticed the double curly loop emoji before. It kind of looks like owl eyes. That's an interesting one. ➿

Thanks for reading!

Also, I totally missed an opportunity to talk about St. Patrick's Day.. thank you for the reminder. ☘️

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Jack Brickey
Community Leader
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March 17, 2022

Interesting topic for sure. I can't say I have seen the mate' one ever. 🤔

I generally keep my usage simple but occasionally will go for the obscure (?). 🤖👣

One I often use in the community 🤡 I believe explains the tone of my post.

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Fun Man Andy
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March 17, 2022

This Friday Fun is pure AMAZABALLZ ! !

Won't surprise anyone to know that the Fun Man is well versed in all emojis:

https://community.atlassian.com/t5/Off-topic-discussions/Friday-Fun-What-emoji-is-a-mystery-to-you/m-p/1975623#M14286

There's not really a time I have been confused by one, or I find mysterious.

What I do love though is that typing boom in English and then boom in Dutch makes this combo:

collision.pngdeciduous-tree.png

And that is hilarious to me . . .  I love to shout it out loud like Basil Brush!

ezgif.com-gif-maker.gif

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Fun Man Andy
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March 17, 2022

...and there's only one thing cooler than emojis...

 

EMOTICONS!

 

(╯°Д°)╯︵ /(.□ . \)
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Linda Milne_Togetha Group_
Solutions Partner
Solution Partners provide consulting, sales, and technical services on Atlassian products.
March 17, 2022

Cant go past

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

in my books. simple, and incredibly expressive

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Fun Man Andy
Community Leader
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March 17, 2022

Fully agreed on that!!! 😃👏

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Daniel Eads
Atlassian Team
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March 17, 2022

Just updated macOS and getting to enjoy some newbies, like the supervillain 🦹

But my favorite emoji that everybody seems to use improperly are the three wise monkeys 🙈🙉🙊. There's a proverb behind these!

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Monique vdB
Community Manager
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March 18, 2022

yes! my brother uses this one a lot 🙈 and I kinda figured out his meaning based on context cues. It's like "I'm embarrassed" but not? 

There's a lot of new ones but I love this one! 🧿

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Tyler T
Atlassian Team
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March 21, 2022

🙈 is a good substitute for 🤦🏻‍♂️

Ivan Lima
Community Leader
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March 18, 2022

Yeah, this is definitely a FF topic. I haven't thought about it, but the "mate" one is extremely popular in southern Brazil. Looking at my frequently used ones, they're pretty standard. I feel like it saves me a lot of time sometimes. I need to catch up on the emoji dialects, the new ones, to get updated with the new digital literacy. 🤔

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Patrícia Fortunato Montenegro March 18, 2022

Hello @Tyler T

Great job on your post! 🤩

Super friendly to see "maté" here. 😃

In Brazil - southern - we drink as usual, and it's so good. We usually call in Portuguese "Chimarrão." 💚

BTW, I'm a super emoji person, hahahah! 😂

And I think the most represent me is this one: 😍 because, by nature, I'm a person who seeks to spread kindness and who always strives to find the best side of people.

Have a great weekend, everyone! 💙

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Fun Man Andy
Community Leader
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March 18, 2022

For me, I can drink Cachaça all day, every day!!
🇧🇷🍸👏

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Patrícia Fortunato Montenegro March 18, 2022

Hahahahahahaha @Fun Man Andy 😁😅!!

Good choice! I prefer Caipirinha! 😁 🇧🇷🍸👏

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Andy Gladstone
Community Leader
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March 18, 2022

I have been slow on the Emoji uptake. As both a writer and coming from corporate America, it took me a long time to embrace emoji usage. I still shiver when I see one used in a professional communication, but in WhatsApp, Texts, Slack and the Atlassian Community I enjoy seeing their usage. 

I let my young daughter use my phone a while back and discovered that the general emoji keyboard can be a full spectrum of yellow (the standard emoticon skin tone) white, brown, black and tones in between. It made me a little sad that an international language of emotional expression had become politicized and required the designers to provide different skin tone representations. That's what confuses me most about them. 🤔🤨🙄😕 

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Patrícia Fortunato Montenegro March 18, 2022

Fully agree, @Andy Gladstone!

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Monique vdB
Community Manager
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March 24, 2022

I have to disagree, I consider it a positive to be inclusive, and I love the spectrum of emojis! I don't always know how to get the right color though, seems to depend on the interface.  🙌🏻

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Rob Horan
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March 18, 2022

I used to have an emoji on my phone that looked like the book cover for Dianetics, but I can't find it now.

That one baffled me.

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Brant Schroeder
Community Leader
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March 18, 2022

I use emojis but a lot of them are baffling.  Not the meaning necessarily but when you would actually use it in a conversation.  

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Linda Milne_Togetha Group_
Solutions Partner
Solution Partners provide consulting, sales, and technical services on Atlassian products.
March 20, 2022

@Brant Schroeder  or those times that in all the billions that are available you still can find the perfect one to express what you want  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

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Jimmy Seddon
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March 21, 2022

Sorry I'm late to the party!  I think what I find confusing is knowing that to some people the various coloured hearts have a different meaning and place for you to use them.

My favorites are the animated ones, specifically Pikachu waving: dc792602f2996018.gif

Thanks for the fun post!

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Andy Gladstone
Community Leader
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March 23, 2022

I felt I needed to share this article related to Expression of Emojis that was featured in a recent Atlassian Work Life newsletter. If this were Confluence, this friday-fun post and that article would be Related Pages! 

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Abbie Robey
Atlassian Team
Atlassian Team members are employees working across the company in a wide variety of roles.
March 23, 2022

Okay, one emoji that is a complete mystery-

"Business Man Levitating" - why is he levitating?

Screen Shot 2022-03-24 at 12.25.37 pm.png

Recent one I love, this cool as hell otter, just chilling.

 

Screen Shot 2022-03-24 at 12.25.18 pm.png

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Tyler T
Atlassian Team
Atlassian Team members are employees working across the company in a wide variety of roles.
March 24, 2022

This character was originally introduced into the Webdings font as an “exclamation mark in the style of the rude boy logo found on records by The Specials". This levitating man was known as Walt Jabsco.

https://emojipedia.org/person-in-suit-levitating/

Very interesting!

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Abbie Robey
Atlassian Team
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March 24, 2022

Very interesting indeed! Thanks for this snippet of info!

Monique vdB
Community Manager
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March 24, 2022

This one showed up on my phone and I thought of this thread immediately!

 Dotted Line Face on Google Android 12L

What.... why? 

Rob Horan
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Early-stage autolysis

Alex Koxaras _Relational_
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April 16, 2022

Well, I was always wondering about this one:

🙏 

Are you praying or

Are you high-five someone?

Rob Horan
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April 19, 2022

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