man facepalming: dark skin tone
Unicode: 1F926 1F3FF 200D 2642
Description
A person shrugging, with a dark skin tone, specifically a man. He holds his hands up and turns his palms outwards, raising his shoulders as if to say 'I don't know' or 'I can't help it'.
Group:
People & Body > person-gesture
Status:
minimally-qualified
Emotion:
Typically conveys uncertainty, helplessness, indifference, resignation, or a lack of knowledge/solution.
Backstory
The Shrug emoji (U+1F926) was approved as part of Unicode 9.0 in 2016. Its origin is a common real-world gesture. The addition of skin tone modifiers (U+1F3FF for dark skin tone) and gender variants (U+200D U+2642 U+FE0F for male) allows for more specific representation of diverse individuals.
Usage Examples
- When asked a question you don't know the answer to: 'Where did I put my keys? 🤦🏿♂️'
- Expressing helplessness: 'Looks like the train is delayed again. 🤦🏿♂️'
- Showing indifference: 'Whatever, I guess. 🤦🏿♂️'
- Acknowledging a lack of control: 'Nothing I can do about it. 🤦🏿♂️'
Cultural Differences
Western culture:
Widely understood as a 'shrug' or 'I don't know' gesture. Often used casually in digital communication.
East Asian culture:
Similar meaning, but perhaps less frequently used as a direct emoji representation compared to some other common gestures. The meaning is generally universal for 'I don't know'.