This is literally my "message received" emote.
If people thought it was rude, I'd be fired by now.
this post was submitted on 21 Mar 2025
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Be careful that people don't think you're contractually agreeing to something with the emoji: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jul/06/canada-judge-thumbs-up-emoji-sign-contract
There are workgroups at my job that use it as acknowledgement and for voting consensus as we are allowed to attend meetings camera and mic off.
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(3 replies)
It depends on what it's in response to.
Dinner at 6 at Greasy Spoon?
π
Entirely reasonable.
Should we do the project in COBOL?
π
Entirely unreasonable, but not rude.
My cat just died.
π
Rude.
This is absolutely spot on. Well done.
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No. Thumbs up means that I agree with you. I know that the younger generation has started interpreting a thumbs up as something negative though, which just blows my mind.
It's not the thumbs up in itself that is seen as rude, but the short dismissive affirmative.
Someone that sees it as rude would feel like they put effort into their message and expect some kind of effort back in the reply,
the single emoji response can also make it seem like you didn't even care to read it, and just say replied with something to make them shut up.
Right, but sometimes you just need to say "I've read what you said. Sounds good to me. No need to keep discussing.", especially when organising things.
π
I understand how someone can see a thumbs up as something rude in certain circumstances. What Iβm having a hard time understanding is that some people seem to believe that the thumb up is ALWAYS rude.
What is rude, as you say, is the lack of a proper response, depending on the conversation. Not the thumb in itself.
I'm going to say it's not a "you" problem, but a "who you're surrounded by" problem. Is this something you're used to percieving accurately? Do you have friends or family who would actually mean it rudely? Because, as others have mentioned, I simply would not be able to function at work if I interpreted π as rude/sarcastic.
I have to assume you're young or your work doesn't involve communicating with coworkers or clients over text. I'd also be curious if you look back at this post 5-10 years from now and think "wtf was I on about?" (I'd also be curious if civilization still exists 5-10 years from now, but I digress...)
No. This is a rude reply:π
π
This one feels worse to me ahahah
Depending on the context, it is can be used sarcastically, which may be rude. But I've used this even in semi-formal settings.
I have to ask, are people these days that easily offended?
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When I personally use it it means "OK, sounds good, I have nothing more to add but I read your message."
It has also been ruled in court (I think in Australia but I dont remember for certain) that it is legally binding as a verbal agreement.
Basically a farmer sent a message to a wholesaler saying "Hey, I need to double my stock feed order for next quarter" or something like that, the supplier sent back a thumbs up. So the delivery arrived and it was only the regular amount. The farmer had to buy the extra amount at retail prices and it cost him tens of thousands more, so he sued for damages. The supplier argued that text messages and thumbs up werent the correct ordering procedure and that he wasnt liable, the court ruled effectively that "Then you should have said that. A thumbs up is a general term of positive response to a question or statement and in this case constitutes acceptance of a verbal agreement" and had to cough up.
Found the case, it was Canada and the farmer F-ed up not the supplier.
Exactly. Everyone at work uses it to cut the chain of "Looks good", "Thanks", "No problem", etc short. If you're interpreting an emoji as an attack you might have anger issues.
Whatever you say you fucking dumbass
No, you need therapy
Context, it is the "K" of Emojis, acceptable as quick response, insulting in any serious conversation
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Yeah that sounds like a you problem. Most people use it to just mean "ok." But I mean, if you said "mom just died π" and you get "π" as a reply, that one's probably rude.
Nope, because I use it myself. But I don't use it as a conversational tool though. I just use it as confirmation that I received and read what you sent but it isn't necessary to continue the conversation. For example, I'm already in a conversation with someone and the assumption is I need them to send me a file. When they finally send it over, I just react with a thumbs up to confirm I got it. Context is important. The emoji is only as meaningful as the context of the conversation it is in.
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I use the πreact to show that I've seen the message but don't need to respond. Usually in the case of someone sending a money transfer or something like that.
You see it as dismissive. Low effort reply, like they couldn't be bothered. It's not inviting continued conversation so you see it as someone telling you to stop talking to them.
If I were to guess. In your eyes. They might as well have replied with "cool story bro".
Which is now forever a sarcastic term and no one regardless of what you say, will believe that you actually found their story cool.
It depends on the context and the person for me.
I donβt, and I use it all the time. That said, I try to be mindful of context. For example, if Iβm going to a party and someone texts saying to grab ice or something: π
Conversely, if someone is texting to say their dog died, or congratularions of a big achievement: !π
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Huh? Maybe I'm strange... But sometimes I give a thumbs up emoji here on Lemmy when I agree with someones argument and have nothing more to add because I 100% agree with the content !
Never though It could be interpreted as rude :/
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If I react to a message with a π it's innocuous, but if I reply to a message π it's actually me being passive aggressive like I can't be bothered to type a real response
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Whatever you say you fucking dumbass π
Never in the history of me sending thumb responses in work chats has it ever meant βwhatever you say you fucking dumbass.β
It's primarily used to show acknowledgement. It's the office worker equivalent of "10-4."
Seems like you have some pretty serious projection issues to work out OP lol
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Just like a curt "yes" or even "yes sir" can be seen as somewhat rude in some contexts, so to can its emoji equivalent.
Sounds like a you problem. An emoji is just that, context of usage defines it's meaning.
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