thumbs up: medium-dark skin tone
Unicode: 1F44D 1F3FE
Description
A hand with thumb and index finger extended, palm facing forward, indicating agreement, approval, or success. The skin tone modifier denotes a darker skin tone.
Group:
People & Body > hand-fingers-closed
Status:
fully-qualified
Emotion:
Commonly represents agreement, approval, satisfaction, or a positive response. It is a universal gesture for 'yes' or 'good job.'
Backstory
The thumbs up gesture has ancient roots, with various theories about its origin, including gladiatorial contests where it could signal life or death. In modern digital communication, it was standardized as an emoji to represent approval and agreement. The skin tone modifiers (like 1F3FE for dark skin tone) were introduced later to allow for more diverse and inclusive representation, first appearing in Unicode 8.0 (2015).
Usage Examples
- Confirming receipt: 'Got it, thanks! 👍🏿'
- Expressing approval: 'Great idea! 👍🏿'
- Acknowledging understanding: '👍🏿, understood.'
- Congratulating: 'You did an awesome job! 👍🏿'
- Responding affirmatively: 'Yes, that works for me! 👍🏿'
Cultural Differences
Western culture:
Widely understood as a positive gesture meaning 'okay,' 'good,' 'well done,' or 'I agree.'
Middle East and parts of West Africa:
Can be considered an insult or offensive, similar to showing a middle finger.
Asia (e.g., Japan, Korea):
Generally understood as positive, similar to Western usage. In Japan, it can also mean 'money' when combined with other gestures, or 'boss' when referring to a male figure like 'oyaji'.
Germany:
A common gesture for 'good' or 'excellent.'
Australia:
Similar to Western use, implying 'all good' or 'I approve.'
Latin America (e.g., Brazil):
Primarily positive, denoting 'good' or 'everything is fine.'
Russia and Eastern Europe:
Generally positive, meaning 'good' or 'excellent.'