person bowing: medium-light skin tone
Unicode: 1F647 1F3FC
Description
A person kneeling with hands clasped as if in prayer or bowing in apology or respect. The skin tone modifier (1F3FC) indicates a light skin tone.
Group:
People & Body > person-gesture
Status:
fully-qualified
Emotion:
Can convey various emotions including prayer, repentance, apology, deep respect, gratitude, or even a 'please' or 'thank you' gesture depending on context.
Backstory
The 'person gesturing NO' or 'person bowing deeply' emoji (originally 1F647) was introduced in Unicode 6.0 (2010). The skin tone modifiers (like 1F3FC) were added in Unicode 8.0 (2015) to allow for more diverse representation. Its interpretation has evolved, with many users perceiving it as a 'person praying' or a 'person begging' emoji due to its hand gestures.
Usage Examples
- Asking for a favor: 'Can you please help me with this 🙏🏼?'
- Expressing gratitude: 'Thank you so much 🙏🏼'
- Apologizing: 'I'm so sorry 🙏🏼'
- Showing respect/deference: 'Respect to the master 🙏🏼'
- Praying: 'Praying for good news 🙏🏼'
Cultural Differences
Western culture:
Often associated with prayer or pleading.
East Asian culture:
Widely used for 'please' or 'thank you' (bowing gesture), or as a sign of deep respect or apology.
Global:
Increasingly adopted for 'please' or 'thank you' requests due to its versatile meaning.