On Tue, Jan 24, 2017 at 9:12 AM, Leonardo Boiko <[email protected]> wrote:
> I find it curious that this community defines the ":3" emoji as "mmmm" or > "om nom nom". In my circles it's quite the frequent emoticon/emoji, but > I've never seen it used this way. > I can kind of see how someone might get that impression. For example, someone writing "om nom nom :3", and somebody who is unfamiliar with the smiley's usage interpreting the meanings as linked, when the intent was originally to express "I'm being silly". > Instead, they usually employ it as "cat mouth" or "cat face", implying > the mood of cuteness, perkiness or mischievousness. (This is distinct from > U+1F431 CAT FACE in that it represents a human making a cat-like mouth, not > an actual cat.) Here are a few images found through a web search for "cat > face": > > > > > I think the expression from manga and anime is probably the origin of the smiley. That's consistent with the communities and contexts where it's found most often. And the "catlike expression" I think is meant to be more metaphorical, rather than a depiction of an actual facial expression. Like how 💢 is not meant to be an actual throbbing vein in the forehead.
