pinched fingers: medium-light skin tone
Unicode: 1F90C 1F3FC
Description
A hand with an index finger and thumb held out in a pinching motion, with a light skin tone modifier.
Group:
People & Body > hand-fingers-partial
Status:
fully-qualified
Emotion:
Typically represents something small, a 'tiny bit' or 'a little bit'. Can also indicate a small amount of something or a subtle suggestion.
Backstory
The pinching hand emoji (1F90C) was introduced in Unicode 12.0 (2019) to represent smallness or a 'tiny bit'. Skin tone modifiers (like 1F3FC for light skin tone) were added in Unicode 8.0 (2015) to allow for more diverse representation of human emojis.
Usage Examples
- Indicating size: 'Just a pinch of salt.'
- Discussing an amount: 'I'm just a little bit tired.'
- Asking for a small favor: 'Can you move over just a tiny bit?'
- Expressing a small idea: 'I have a small idea about that.'
Cultural Differences
Western culture:
Commonly used to convey 'a little bit', 'a small amount', or sometimes ironically 'a tiny problem'.
East Asian culture:
Contextually similar, for indicating smallness or slightness. Can also be used playfully.