Wonder why your timeline is flooded with random emoji? We’ve got you covered.
The latest Twitter meme combines two of my favorite things: emoji and wordplay. Users are tweeting “when I text you [insert emoji] know it means…” followed by a clever or outlandish meaning for that emoji.
The trend treats emoji as a jumping off point to make a joke, and some of the most popular examples reference the internet’s best inside jokes. It also spotlights many underutilized emoji, and we all know the weirder the emoji, the better.
According to Twitter, the phrase “when I text you” has been tweeted over 200,000 times in the past week. This isn’t the first time emoji have been reclaimed for something other than their intended use. Emoji have become their own language with each generation and various social circles assigning emoji different meanings. Gen Z famously uses 😠and 💀 for laughing rather than the more Millennial 😂. Not to mention, all the emoji that have become synonymous with thirst and horniness.
This meme allows chronically online wordsmiths to show off their creativity and will hopefully spark a renaissance in bizarre emoji use. Here are some of my favorite examples of the meme.
