Brooke Newell, a sophomore Sociology major, was shocked Thursday afternoon when she received a text from her mother containing the eggplant emoji.
“At first glance, I thought it was from an old Tinder match” said a traumatized Newell. “But then I looked more closely and saw it was my mother who’d texted me. I asked my mother if she’d meant to send it to someone else, like maybe my dad, but she said no.”
Denise Newell appeared unaware of the connotations of her poorly chosen emoji. “I was at the local farmer’s market picking up some fresh fruits and vegetables. I wanted to tell my daughter about it using those new ‘em-og-ees’ the kids think are ‘flek’” said the middle-aged mother. “So I simply typed out a message to her saying ‘out and about, getting some [eggplant emoji] and eating some [peach emoji]. Wish you were here!’. I don’t know why my daughter reacted the way she did. Maybe she didn’t expect her mother to be so cool,” concluded Mrs. Newell.
Misunderstandings like this one are not uncommon to the Newells. As emojis have been embraced by the older crowd, problems like this have become more common. Just last week, a public service announcement was released by Facebook that clarified that the tears of joy emoji ‘does not convey sadness,’ after thousands of confused relatives posted it to express grief on sad statuses or national tragedy news articles.
When asked for comments, Apple executives highlighted their courageous plan to remove emojis entirely in the next major iPhone update. “Instead of emojis, users will be able to combine 26 proprietary symbols to represent their masterful, world-changing ideas,” quoted Apple’s lead designer Jony Ive. “Those who think differently will have a whole new way to communicate.”