Whether you met your crush IRL or you got to talking after they sent you a pick up line on Tinder, you’ll probably spend the early days of your “flirtationship” texting back and forth.
The frustrating thing about text messages is that it can be hard to figure out whether someone is teasing you or being serious.
Fortunately, almost everyone uses emojis in their texts to help convey what they’re feeling.
But it still isn’t always clear what emojis mean, and unlike actual words, which have a clear and definite meaning, different people use different emojis in different ways.
When you’re trying to decode a text from someone you’re flirting with, there’s no dictionary you can use to figure out the exact definition of a specific emoji.
That’s where this article comes in. It will walk you through the different possible meanings of 🙃in a text message from someone you think would be a date worth keeping.
What does 🙃 mean flirting?
- Dry humor or irony
- Embarrassment
- Awkwardness
- Bemusement
- Excitement
- Not wanting to give too much away
- Being flirty and bold
- Sarcasm
- Testing the waters
What people sometimes forget about the upside-down emoji is that, in addition to being upside down, it is also a smiling emoji.
Unlike frowning emojis, such as the unamused face emoji 😒, the upside-down smiling emoji always conveys a happy or amused emotion.
It is never used when the texter is actually annoyed with the person they’re texting.
It is a common emoji for people to use when they have just begun texting someone they like. It isn’t as bold as something like the purple devil emoji ( 😈) or as affectionate as the kissy-face emoji, but it is still cheekily flirtatious.
Here is a run-through of each of the ways someone you’re texting might be using the upside-down emoji to flirt with you.
1. Dry humor or irony
The upside-down emoji is often used to convey dry humor or irony.
The upside-down smiley is a way to convey that the person is making a joke without having to use an exaggerated facial expression, or in this case, an exaggerated emoji.
What is dry humor? Well, it is basically a style of telling jokes that involves saying funny things without changing one’s expression or tone.
Unlike slapstick humor, which relies on exaggerated physical activity, dry or deadpan humor relies on saying funny or ironic things with almost no change of physical expression.
Of course, when you’re texting someone, it is impossible to show that one isn’t changing one’s face.
And this is where the upside-down emoji comes in!
The upside-down emoji has become a stand-in for the deadpan facial expression people use when making dry jokes. Because people often use humor to flirt, it has become one of the main emojis people use in the early stages of flirty texting.
Here is an example of how it might be used to convey dry humor.
Example:
“It’s not like you like me or anything, right? 🙃”
2. Embarrassment
If the person you texted has goofed and said something foolish, they might send the upside-down emoji to show that they feel silly and don’t know what to say to redeem themselves.
For example, if you’ve just matched with someone and they send you a “What’s up?” message on Tinder that calls you by the wrong name, they might send you a quick, “Oh wow. I’m sorry, I meant Jane, not Jamie 🙃”
The upside-down emoji can be used as a substitute for, or in addition to the see-no-evil monkey emoji (🙈). It adds an extra flirty edge to this emoji that’s often used to show embarrassment.
Example:
“Oh man, that’s so embarrassing. I meant to send that to someone else 🙃”
3. Awkwardness
One of the main ways people use the upside-down emoji when flirting over text is to convey awkwardness. This is often the good, cute kind of awkwardness.
The upside-down emoji is used to communicate the awkwardness we feel when we have butterflies in our stomachs and are a little giddy about how much we like someone.
For example, if your crush texts you to ask you how many days in advance to ask for a date, they might end their text with 🙃 to show that they feel a little awkward because you now know they want to ask you out.
People often use 🙃 when flirting at the end of a compliment. So if a guy says you’re sweet for staying late at work to help him, he might add an upside-down smiley to the end of the text to show you he is flirting with you.
Example:
“I think I might be developing a bit of a crush on you 🙃”
4. Bemusement
While the classic face with tears of joy emoji (😂)––also known as the laughing-crying emoji––has firmly established itself as the millennial emoji of choice when telling a funny story, the upside-down smiley is a sign of a subtler kind of amusement.
If you witnessed something funny that left you scratching your head, you’d probably say you were bemused.
For example, if a work colleague does something that makes no sense, you might tell someone that story over text and add an upside-down smiley at the end of it.
That might look something like this: “A woman I work with just put her yogurt in the microwave because she thought it was a small fridge 🙃”
In the context of a flirty text exchange, you might show bemusement at how shy you are both being, or at how often both of you are “typing…” without sending anything.
Basically, when someone sends the upside-down emoji at the end of a bemusing story, they are encouraging you to share in the joke with them.
Example:
“So basically, we’re both waiting for the other person to make the first move, aren’t we? 🙃”
5. Excitement
If the person you’re crushing on wants to express their excitement about a date you have planned, but doesn’t want to sound too keen, they might add the upside-down smiley to the end of their message to appear cooler and calmer than they feel.
The upside-down smiley is a great way to show excitement. The fact that it is upside down conveys a kind of childlike happiness.
Example:
“Can’t deny that I’m looking forward to impressing this girl on our first date on Saturday 🙃”
6. Not wanting to give too much away
One of the oldest tricks in the flirting book is being coy and mysterious, and refusing to answer questions directly.
If you leave someone wanting more, they’ll always want to come back.
Especially in the early days of dating someone, it is nice to keep the mystery and excitement alive by not telling the person you’re seeing everything about you right away.
Since the honeymoon period won’t last forever anyway, why not make the person you’re seeing work for the reward of your company?
Whether you’re dating a girl who is always busy and you really want to make the most of your time together, or are dating a single dad who only has a limited amount of time to text, they might be using the upside-down emoji as a way to build tension and suspense.
If you notice that the person you’re texting is using the upside-down emoji to convey shyness or coyness, then you can rest assured they are flirting with you.
Example:
“Stop asking me what I have planned for Friday evening, girl. That’s for me to know and you to find out 🙃”
7. Being flirty and bold
On the opposite end of the flirting spectrum to coyness is being bold. Boldness means openly teasing and poking fun and someone.
This is a great approach to creating romantic tension, because by making little jabs and creating innuendo you are giving the person you like a compelling reason to respond to your text.
Flirting is a bit combative and competitive. Part of the fun is that you cannot let the other person win.
It’s no wonder therefore that gender studies professors have proven that flirting is an effective negotiation strategy.
If the person you like teases you, you have to defend yourself and tease them back. Flirtation is like a harmless argument.
You have to poke just a hard enough to elicit a defensive reaction but not hard enough to actually offend the person you like.
If someone is being boldly flirtatious with you over text, they may well use the upside-down smiley face to show you that they mean no real harm and are actually just trying to get a rise out of you to begin to build a romantic dynamic.
Example:
“Good luck on your driving test––and good luck to the all the other drivers out there if you pass 🙃”
8. Sarcasm
If someone says something sarcastic, they may use the upside-down emoji to show you that they didn’t mean to offend you, and that their quip was meant flirtatiously or affectionately.
We use sarcasm freely around people we feel comfortable with. While it is rude if a guy calls you dramatic, if he finds a funny way to sarcastically say that you “aren’t being dramatic at all 🙃,” it will go over a lot better, because you will know he means no harm and that actually, he appreciates you.
Sarcasm can build bonds very quickly, so look out for flirty, sarcastic texts punctuated with an upside-down smiley. They are a surefire sign that the person you’re texting is into you.
Example:
“You’re not being a hypocrite. I mean, it’s not like you’re always late or anything 🙃”
9. Testing the waters
Look, there are a lot of emojis on the modern keyboard that have informally been given explicit meanings.
We all know that the eggplant isn’t really an eggplant, and the peach isn’t really a peach (to say nothing about the water drops).
So, when it comes to ranking emojis in terms of their flirtatious innuendo or suggestiveness, 🙃is a pretty innocent one.
However, it is a good way to begin flirting. You can also use it to assess whether someone might be interested, because it has a mischievous undertone.
If someone asks for you number, but you aren’t sure whether they’re texting you because they like you platonically or because they think you are cute, pay close attention to what emojis they use.
If they begin to tease you affectionately and add upside-down smileys to the end of their messages, they’re probably seeing how you respond before moving on to more obvious emojis like the winky face or the smirking emoji.
Example:
“Hey, how is your day going? I enjoyed our chat last night 🙃”
What does 🙃 mean from a guy when flirting?
The upside-down smiley emoji from a guy usually means he is flirting with you and wants to get to know you better romantically. If he were only interested in you platonically, he would stick to the standard smiley. Particularly if he uses the 🙃 emoji at the end of a teasing or sarcastic line, he is showing a clear interest in you.
Some emojis are more straightforward to decode than others.
For example, no one questions the meaning of straight-forward slightly smiling face emoji (🙂) or the standard smiling face with smiling eyes emoji (😊), both of which are appropriate to send to everyone from your grandma to your employer.
Other emojis, however, are more ambiguous. The upside-down smiley face is a prime example. Since it doesn’t actually resemble a facial expression we recognize from real life (unless of course you picture someone doing a headstand), it is difficult to figure out what it means when you see it for the first time.
If a guy sends you an upside-down emoji, consider it evidence that he wants to move your relationship into more informal, flirtatious territory, and that he would like to ask you out eventually.
He is using irony and dry humor to try to change the tone of your conversation into something more lighthearted and casual.
What does 🙃mean from a girl when flirting?
An upside-down emoji from a girl usually means she is being coy or mysterious. It is almost always a flirtatious symbol that means she is interested in getting to know you better. Girls often use 🙃 to mean that they aren’t saying everything they’re thinking just yet, but that if you put in the work, they’d like to open up more as time goes on.
While every girl uses emojis differently, emojis are a good way to get around having to use words to express complicated emotions.
Because girls have been conditioned not to reveal too much about themselves too quickly, they will often refuse to address something directly, and will instead hide behind coded words.
In a world full of texting communication, this tendency has morphed into a tendency to hide behind emojis.
But rest assured, if a girl is sending you upside down emojis, it’s a good sign that she may already be thinking about how to prep for a first date with you.
If a girl sends you a text after your date to thank you for the evening and ends it with 🙃, that’s a great sign. Basically, it means that the date went well.
Hey, it’s me, Steven. Dating and relationships have always fascinated me. On Dategosu, you will find my best tips to make sure your next date is a great success!