Zilinskiene said that Westerners use one emoji to show someone laughing so hard they cry. The official name for this emoji is “face with tears of joy.” But Middle Eastern cultures tend to interpret this emoji as depicting crying and grief, she said. She said teachers in Japan can use a white flower to congratulate a student for good work. That could mean something quite different in other cultures. In China, for example, the color of mourning is white instead of the color black which reflects mourning in the U.S.
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Modern day Hieroglyphics
The waving hand emoji means hello or goodbye in Western culture but in China it has a much stronger meaning like “bye, you’re not my friend anymore.” It’s akin to giving the middle finger in Europe or America. The French use a red heart more than any other country, even bumping smiley faces from the top spot, according to a 2016 study. Here in the U.S. attorneys have even been called on to interpret emojis in text communications sent by people accused of crimes.
