Emojis inject fun in otherwise boring pieces of texts.

Can you think of when you last sent a casual text without any emoji?

Emojis have become an integral part of our texting culture and it is not showing any sign of subsiding either.

We all have our interpretations when it comes to emojis. We often get creative with it too.

Having said that, there are some emojis that we thought meant something but turned out to be something completely different. Let’s take a look at what these emojis are:

 1. Monkey Covering Eyes

How many times do we have to admit something embarrassing and send this emoji?

A monkey covering both of its eyes with his hands. If someone unexpectedly (or expectedly) compliments you, you immediately think of using this emoji.

The actual meaning of this emoji is something else as you already probably can guess.

It means “see no evil”. That’s it! That doesn’t necessarily have to stop you from using this as the shy emoji.

2. Pink Building

This one looks like a nice little pink hospital. So cute, right? Maybe something for the Hello Kitty fans. That’s probably the cutest medical building of some sort that you’ve ever seen.

Well, not quite. As embarrassing as it is, this cute building is a pay-by-the-hour hotel, otherwise known as a ‘love motel’. They are referred to as ‘love motels’ in many parts of Asia. Not quite a hospital then. Time for that “embarrassed” emoji.

3.  Teacup Without Handle

So you are texting a person who is under the weather and you want them to have a bowl of warm soup.

You send this emoji and it looks perfect. Except for the part where you wonder why the soup is green. Maybe there are some veggies in it to make it extra healthy?

It does not look that appetizing but I guess we think it might be good for a sick person.

The literal meaning of this emoji – it is matcha tea. The Japanese healthy green tea.

Maybe it will make you feel better knowing it’s not some green soup. But then again, the taste of matcha tea could be an acquired taste for some of us.

4. Two Hands

Some or most of us think it means “whatever”, as in when you do not want to continue an argument and you want it to end.

So you surrender and say “Whatever, I’m out.”

It actually means “open hands”. It is showing two open hands in order to represent openness or a hug. I bet you did not imagine that! This emoji also has some similarities with American Sign Language for “open”.

5. Information Desk Person

If we are being frank, being cheeky can be fun. But the line between fun and offending someone is quite thin as well.

That’s where this emoji comes in. If you want to let people know you are just poking a little fun, this is your emoji.

The literal meaning of this emoji is actually very different. She has nothing to do with being cheeky or sassy.

What did you think her hand was doing? A hair flip? Well, no. She is gesturing “May I help you?” because she is supposed to be working at the help desk. Maybe inside she feels quite cheeky and sassy, we’ll never know.

6. Praying Hands

We usually use this emoji as praying hands or even a high-five. Probably this emoji is more common as a high-five.

The literal or actual meaning of this emoji is not too far from what we imagined it to be.

It was intended to be used as saying “thank you” or “please”. So maybe when you are asking someone for help, it will make more sense (make sure the person you’re sending it to doesn’t interpret as a high-five. Example: “Can you please lend me some money? ‘high-five'”).

7. The Tongue Out

This could probably be one of the most used emojis. Goofy, flirtatious or even something tongue-in-cheek sarcastic, we don’t hold back using this emoji. 

However, actually, this emoji does not mean those things.

The actual title of this emoji is “Face Savoring Delicious Food”.

That flirtatious tongue means you are devouring some very tasty food. I guess the facial expression mislead us in this case.