Kanji as Emoji

I’m not so sure about Apple OS users, but as far as the Android text messages software, and Whatsapp, there are handful of Kanji emoji. Before studying Kanji I had presumed they were useful as quick responses to those who could read them, like the clock emoji, or thumbs. However now that I can read some of them, I’m really confused how they could be relevant.

For example the one that caught my eye is 有 yuu (which means have or exist), Surely I’m missing some cultural context for this and the others, and I’m reaching out to the community enlightenment.

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:u6709: actually does not refer to have/exist in this case but “not free of charge”
You can find the list of kanji-moji and their corresponding meaning on this website:
http://unicode.org/emoji/charts/full-emoji-list.html#1f198

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Spoiler:

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This is the kind of quality post this forum needs more of… nice one!

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Wow! that really clears things up. Thanks for sharing!

bookmarked. Thanks a lot!

10 months after you posted this its still helping ppl. i knew if i seached emoji on the forums id fine exactly what i was looking for. bless. Theres a few more kanji related emojis not lsited here - like the little read flower seal with kanji and hiragana, its too small to read but ive always assumed its a newyears greeting or something like that. any idea? :white_flower:

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It symbolizes a white flower, which is often interpreted as a cherry blossom, and has the writing 「大変よくできました」 (“Very well done”) inside of it ^^ so it’s a congratulatory emoji :white_flower:

image

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you’re always a blessing, thank you!

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“Congratulatory” if someone is a kid. This is like a sticker you put on kids homework. If someone is an adult replace “Congratulatory” with “Patronizing”.

I suppose that would depend on the context of the situation – it’s similar to the “gold star” that kids get in school for things, and if I were close with someone and they sent me some sort of gold star emoji as an expression of congratulations, I wouldn’t take that in a patronizing manner :thinking:

I’ve never ever seen it used the later way though. Maybe someone does somewhere, but it would be about as normal as a close friend giving you a gold star.

囧 <-actual Kanji as emoji.

If your friends aren’t giving you gold stars then you need to find new friends.

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image

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See, even people who aren’t friends at all and harness an internal hatred for one another can give each other gold stars. Japanese is fun :slight_smile:

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com-gif-maker

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Regardless of if it’s in a stamp, or a sticker, or an emoji, よくできました! is probably going to be considered patronizing if said to an adult.

I understand what you mean, but I still think context and the closeness between you and the other person (i.e. a close friend, not a superior) might negate it coming off as patronizing

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