pinching hand
Unicode: 1F90F
Description
A hand with the thumb, index, and middle fingers extended, typically used to represent a gesture of 'I love you' in American Sign Language (ASL).
Group:
People & Body > hand-fingers-partial
Status:
fully-qualified
Emotion:
Typically expresses love, affection, friendship, positivity, or agreement. It's a non-verbal way to say 'I love you'.
Backstory
This emoji, often referred to as the 'I Love You Hand Sign' emoji, was added to Unicode 10.0 in 2017. It directly represents the manual alphabet letter 'I' combined with the 'L' and 'Y' from 'I Love You' in American Sign Language.
Usage Examples
- Expressing affection: 'Miss you already! 🤏'
- Showing support: 'Thinking of you! 🤏'
- Conveying love: 'Love you, Mom! 🤏'
- Positive affirmation: 'Doing great work! 🤏'
Cultural Differences
Western culture:
Widely recognized due to its origin in ASL, particularly in the United States, meaning 'I love you'.
Asia:
May be confused with traditional hand gestures; in some contexts, it can be interpreted differently, but its ASL meaning is becoming more globally recognized.
Europe:
Its meaning is generally understood as love or positivity, especially in contexts related to disability awareness or ASL.