man facepalming
Unicode: 1F926 200D 2642
Description
A man facepalming, covering his face with his hand, conveying embarrassment, frustration, or disappointment.
Group:
People & Body > person-gesture
Status:
minimally-qualified
Emotion:
Typically represents exasperation, shame, disappointment, or feeling annoyed at someone's actions or a situation. It conveys a sense of 'I can't believe this' or 'Oh my God, seriously?'.
Backstory
This emoji sequence combines two common elements: 'Face With Hand Over Mouth' (U+1F926) and 'Man' (U+2642), with a Zero Width Joiner (ZWJ U+200D) to create a single 'Man Facepalming' emoji. The primary Facepalm emoji (U+1F926) was introduced in Unicode 9.0 (2016). The man variant specifically emerged later as part of a move to add gender inclusivity for various human emojis.
Usage Examples
- Reacting to a bad pun: 'That joke was terrible 🤦♂️'
- Expressing disbelief at someone's actions: 'Did he really just say that? 🤦♂️'
- Feeling frustrated with technology: 'My computer crashed again. 🤦♂️'
- When someone makes an obvious mistake: 'Well, that's just brilliant. 🤦♂️'
Cultural Differences
Western culture:
Widely understood as a sign of dismay, often used humorously to express frustration with common idiocy or a 'facepalm moment'.
East Asian culture:
Similar usage to Western culture, often used in online discussions or messaging for moments of disbelief or embarrassment.