man facepalming: medium-dark skin tone
Unicode: 1F926 1F3FE 200D 2642 FE0F
Description
A man shrugging, depicted as a gender-neutral or male figure with a dark skin tone, with arms bent and hands turned up, palms open, indicating a lack of knowledge, indifference, or 'I don't know.'
Group:
People & Body > person-gesture
Status:
fully-qualified
Emotion:
Conveys uncertainty, indifference, confusion, resignation, or 'I don't know.' It can also imply helplessness or a lack of responsibility.
Backstory
The basic 'person shrugging' emoji (1F926) was approved as part of Unicode 9.0 in 2016. The addition of human skin tone modifiers (1F3FE for dark skin tone) and gender-specific ZWJ sequences (200D 2642 FE0F for male) allows for more specific human representation, reflecting the diversity of users.
Usage Examples
- When asked a question you don't know the answer to: 'Where did I put my keys? 🤦🏾♂️'
- Expressing indifference: 'What do you want for dinner? 🤦🏾♂️'
- Conveying resignation: 'Well, it happened. 🤦🏾♂️'
- When avoiding a difficult question: 'Don't ask me! 🤦🏾♂️'
Cultural Differences
Western culture:
Widely understood to express 'I don't know,' 'whatever,' or 'it is what it is.' Often used in casual conversations to convey a shrug.
East Asian culture:
May be used in a similar context of uncertainty or indifference, but perhaps less frequently than in Western communication. The 'shrug' gesture itself might be less universally demonstrative in some Asian cultures.