Despite being super handy, emojis have recently gotten the thumbs down.
From hieroglyphs and rune stones to stop signs and the fraught eggplant, human beings have long used icons as shorthand.
As our most recent companions to written language, emojis have been used as slang for sex acts and the dealing and doing of illegal drugs.
While some argue emojis actually improve our communication skills, studies show that employees who use them in a professional context are seen as less powerful by their colleagues. A recent Reddit thread that called out the thumbs up emoji for being “passive aggressive” has gone viral with some Gen Z folk calling for the offending digit to be canceled. Deep sigh.
In the modern lexicon, emojis have taken the place of written sentiments thanks to Shigetaka Kurita. Inspired by Japanese graphic novels and the Dingbats font Kurita, the interface designer developed the OG set of emojis in 1999. These first pixilated symbols evolved alongside technology and the advent of mobile devices which require a shorthand that can convey tone via textspeak.
As the Museum of Modern Art attests of the almighty emoji, “Filling in for body language, they reassert the human within the deeply impersonal, abstract space of electronic communication. Now, with more than 2,600 in use, emoji have evolved…into an essential, global, and increasingly complex companion to written language.”
In honor of these pictogram whose myriad meanings serve and subvert us when words fail us, we offer you a list of the zodiac signs as emojis. Read on and text right.
ARIES (March 21 – April 19)
Face palm
As an impulsive and impassioned fire sign, Aries natives usually follow an act first, apologize profusely afterwards trajectory, a cause and effect best represented by the face to palm, mea culpa energy of this emoji. Runner up would be red flag, raising them, waving them and being them.
TAURUS (April 20 – May 20)
Pizza
Taurus folk en masse struggle to express their emotions, preferring to suppress them or incomprehensibly mumble them as they chew. They are however, pretty clear and present when it comes to their primary needs; food and sex. Blessedly, the humble pizza slice emoji pulls double duty as a request for both.
GEMINI (May 21 – June 20)
Shrug
Geminis struggle with decision making, over sharing, keeping commitments and taking responsibility for their frequent failures, the shrug emoji encapsulates this indecisive, inconclusive and utterly unaccountable energy.
CANCER (June 21 – July 22)
Laughing
Due to their acute sensitivity and keen awareness of others, Cancers are the natural laugh riots of the zodiac. No sign understands the symbiotic relationship between comedy and tragedy quite like a crab, making the cry/laugh tears of joy emoji their perfect, personal pictogram.
LEO (July 23 – August 22)
Eyes
Leo lives for flights of fancy, shots at love, undivided attention and limelight sunburns. Fittingly, and as Dictionary.com notes, “The eyes emoji…serves to draw attention to something the user wants to highlight, especially in situations that involve drama and interpersonal tension… This emoji sometimes appears when someone finds a person attractive.” An emoji built for flirtation and fanning the flames of drama is fully in line with this full tilt fire sign. Runner up is the hand heart emoji as Leo rules the heart and loves a puppet show.
VIRGO (August 23 – September 22)
Melting face emoji
At any given moment the average Virgo is projecting a sense of having everything under control while internally grappling with the end times and the joke they told in 2014 that no one laughed at. I offer you the melting face emoji, which The New York Times attests, “can be used to convey how one feels after an embarrassing interaction with a crush, the exhaustion of living through a pandemic and, of course, sarcasm.”
LIBRA (September 23 – October 22)
Heart emoji
The heart emoji, like Libra itself is popular, adaptable and generally deployed to smooth, encourage or assuage. Libras are infuriatingly hard to read and the heart, which can mean sympathy, affection, approval, ambivalence, emptiness or absence, is similarly ambiguous.
SCORPIO (October 23 – November 21)
Skull
Scorpio lords over the eighth house of sex, death and regeneration, the natural habitat of skulls. Further, scorpions are not above getting it on in a graveyard, celebrating Halloween any old time, killing with comedy or issuing an anonymous death threat, notions easily communicated by the this power packing emoji.
SAGITTARIUS (November 22 – December 21)
Cowboy
Emojipedia.org describes the cowboy as “A yellow smiley wearing a wide-brimmed, brown-leather cowboy hat. Its smile varies across platforms. May convey a sense of exuberance, whimsy, confidence, or adventure.” Whimsy? Exuberance? Confidence? Adventure? All in a days work for Sagittarius, the zodiac’s resident optimist and avowed destroyer of bad vibes, gentle deliveries and early bedtimes.
CAPRICORN (December 22 – January 19)
Nerd
Natural fault finders, course correctors and empire builders, Capricorns are big on due diligence, knowing it all and pushing themselves harder than most, a vibe made manifest in the studious nerd emoji. Cap also rules the teeth, fitting for this tusk forward emoji.
AQUARIUS (January 20 – February 18)
Star
In the Major Arcana of the tarot, Aquarius is symbolized the the Star card. Uncompromising innovators and absolute alien elitists, water bearers can also be wildly condescending making the patronizing “gold star” an apropos emoji.
PISCES (February 19 – March 20)
Party
Pisces are a congratulatory lot, armed with confetti hearts ever primed to toast occasions as trivial as making it through Tuesday. A shoulder to cry on when you’re coming down from a bender and the cheerleader you need when making the dicey decision to take back your ex, Pisces is the hype man and unrivaled party popper of the zodiac.
Astrology 101: Your guide to the stars
Astrologer Reda Wigle researches and irreverently reports back on planetary configurations and their effect on each zodiac sign. Her horoscopes integrate history, poetry, pop culture and personal experience. She is also an accomplished writer who has profiled a variety of artists and performers, as well as extensively chronicled her experiences while traveling. Among the many intriguing topics she has tackled are cemetery etiquette, her love for dive bars, Cuban Airbnbs, a “girls guide” to strip clubs and the “weirdest” foods available abroad.