Sure, Twitter supports emoji now, but does a set of warped ’90s smiley faces really represent the breadth of human emotion?
For more advanced tweeters, sometimes you just need more complex graphics. These ASCII emoticons take time and patience to master, but once you get the spacing down, you’ll feel like you’ve reached a post-text plane of self expression. Because there’s no handy cheat sheet for the most common characters, we made one ourselves. Simply copy and paste them from below.
Sup Son
¯_(ツ)_/¯
Sup Son, also known as the Shruggie, originated in the Starcraft community—but it’s now probably the most widely used if not the most recognizable ASCII emoticon (it’s even made its way into headlines). It can mean anything from “IDK” to “lol who cares” to “whatever.” The Sup Son is especially good for responding to @-replies when you have nothing else to say, and you’re just like, “Yup! That’s how it is.”
@holgate lol ¯_(ツ)_/¯
— Rusty Foster (@rustyk5) December 9, 2013
Table Flip
(╯°□°）╯︵ ┻━┻
The table flip is for frustration and anger. Perfect for when you see a tweet about something so absurd or maddening you just need to throw a table in the air.
Look of Disapproval
ಠ_ಠ
If the table flip is too aggressive, a look of disapproval can be used to communicate disbelief or disappointment. This is an acceptable reaction to 99 percent of what you might find on Twitter.
@EmilyDreyfuss ಠ_ಠ
— Matthew Panzarino (@panzer) May 14, 2014
Got Dat
⊂_ヽ
＼＼ Λ＿Λ
＼( ˇωˇ)
/ ⌒
/ へ＼
/ / ＼＼
ﾚ ノ ヽ_つ
/ / GOT DAT _________
( (ヽ
| |、
| 丿 ＼
| | ) /
ノ ) Lﾉ
Beware! This can be tough to pull off if you can’t nail the spacing. This cartoon cat is sort of the Twitter equivalent of to “talk to the hand,” but in a more braggy way. Use it to triumph your achievements and pull off a successful humblebrag.
⊂_ヽ ＼＼ Λ＿Λ ＼( ˇωˇ) / ⌒ / へ＼ / / ＼＼ ﾚ ノ ヽ_つ / / GOT DAT HEIDI MOORE BLOCK ( (ヽ | |、 | 丿 ＼ | | ) / ノ ) Lﾉ
— Steven Perlberg (@perlberg) February 11, 2014
Katie Notopoulos, senior editor at BuzzFeed, coined GOT DAT Cat in July 2013.
⊂_ヽ ＼＼ Λ＿Λ ＼( ˇωˇ) / ⌒ / へ＼ / / ＼＼ ﾚ ノ ヽ_つ / / GOT DAT MIKE ISAAC FAV ( (ヽ | |、 | 丿 ＼ | | ) / ノ ) Lﾉ
— Katie Notopoulos (@katienotopoulos) July 21, 2013
1, 2, 3
(•_•)
<) )╯Insert
/
(•_•)
( (> Text
/
(•_•)
<) )> Here
/
It’s unclear whether these three sassy men originated from a Beyoncé video, but that’s the attitude you should adopt when tweeting this. Make sure you break up your statement into three very clear and concise parts, watch your spacing (again), and thank Twitter for the line breaks that make it all possible.
(•_•) <) )╯Are we… / (•_•) ( (> Finished tweeting about… / (•_•) <) )> The NYT? /
— Steve Kovach (@stevekovach) May 14, 2014
Cool Shades Guy
(•_•)
( •_•)>⌐■-■
(⌐■_■)
Channel your inner Horatio Caine and don the shades when you know your pun has hit the mark. It’s a power-move emoticon, and it almost acts like a grenade exploding behind you as you coolly stroll away into the sunset.
Authorities hoping for … •_•) ( •_•)>⌐■-■ (⌐■_■) … a huge bust YEEAAHHHHH https://t.co/6DqGD7GRcb pic.twitter.com/iV89BAL3lN
— Slade Sohmer (@SladeHV) May 20, 2014
Thumbs-up Cat
Thumbs-up Cat is a semi-sarcastic way to say, “Yeah, you got it, bro!” It’s a tongue-in-cheek way to tweet encouragement, and you can also paste phrases next to the animal. I like to imagine this cat riding a skateboard (not pictured).
Suicide
┓┏┓┏┓┃
┛┗┛┗┛┃＼○／
┓┏┓┏┓┃ / STOP
┛┗┛┗┛┃ノ)
┓┏┓┏┓┃ MAKING
┛┗┛┗┛┃
┓┏┓┏┓┃ SHITTY
┛┗┛┗┛┃
┓┏┓┏┓┃ MEMES
┃┃┃┃┃┃
┻┻┻┻┻┻
For use when you’re ready to end it all. The man jumping off a building is the perfect sign-off to a discussion that’s gone on way too long, or a link that makes you want to jump off a cliff. Text is fully customizable, but beware of character count.
┓┏┓┏┓┃ ┛┗┛┗┛┃＼○／ ┓┏┓┏┓┃ / ACTUALLY ┛┗┛┗┛┃ノ) ┓┏┓┏┓┃ ┛┗┛┗┛┃ ┓┏┓┏┓┃ ┛┗┛┗┛┃ ┓┏┓┏┓┃ ┃┃┃┃┃┃ ┻┻┻┻┻┻
— George Dubstep Bush (@hamsandcastle) May 8, 2014
┓┏┓┏┓┃ ┛┗┛┗┛┃＼○／ ┓┏┓┏┓┃ / B ┛┗┛┗┛┃ノ) E ┓┏┓┏┓┃ N ┛┗┛┗┛┃ G ┓┏┓┏┓┃ H ┛┗┛┗┛┃ A ┓┏┓┏┓┃ Z ┃┃┃┃┃┃ I ┻┻┻┻┻┻
— Jeb Lund (@Mobute) May 8, 2014
Illustration by Cooper Fleishman