man facepalming: medium skin tone
Unicode: 1F926 1F3FD 200D 2642
Description
A person, specifically a man, shrugging with medium-dark skin tone, indicating indifference, lack of knowledge, or 'I don't know'.
Group:
People & Body > person-gesture
Status:
minimally-qualified
Emotion:
Confusion, nonchalance, uncertainty, helplessness, lack of information, 'I don't know'.
Backstory
The 'person shrugging' emoji (1F926) was introduced in Unicode 9.0 (2016). It builds upon the popular shrug emoticon (¯\_(ツ)_/¯) and provides a more visual representation of the gesture. The skin tone modifier (1F3FD) and gender sign (200D 2642 FE0F for man) allow for customization.
Usage Examples
- When you don't know the answer: 'Where did I put my keys? 🤷🏽♂️'
- Expressing indifference: 'Should we go out tonight or stay in? 🤷🏽♂️'
- Suggesting helplessness: 'My computer crashed again, and I have no idea why. 🤷🏽♂️'
- Reacting to an absurd situation: 'He said what? 🤷🏽♂️'
Cultural Differences
Western culture:
Widely recognized as a universal gesture for 'I don't know' or 'whatever'. Frequently used in casual online communication.
East Asian culture:
Understood, but might be less commonly used than other emojis, as other forms of expression might be preferred for conveying uncertainty or indifference.