GenX here. Shit, I do thumbs up frequently to confer agreement.
And I will indeed give you a middle finger emoji to say, "you fucking dumbass."
this post was submitted on 21 Mar 2025
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Whatever you say you fucking dumbass π
Really just depends on the context but generally it isn't what you think it means and it's simply your personal interpretation. You have to assume people are well intentioned or you start having trust issues. Most people don't see themselves as the asshole and I guarantee you do shit that pisses other people off even if you mean well.
Depends on who's saying it and to what, and in what manner (message reaction, its own separate text).
"Hey who wants pizza tonight?" in the group text.
Bunch ofπreactions mixed in with some π and πΊ
That's normal and people agreeing with you.
"Hey could you pick up some toilet paper on the way home?"
π reaction.
That's a neutral kind of acknowledgement.
"Hey man, that was pretty fucked what you said back at the party. I think the others want to talk to you about it."
"π"
That's rude and dismissive, and not just an acknowledgement text.
First of all - Iβm shocked that anyone would use a thumb up like in your last example. Thatβs obviously extremely rude and disrespectful.
Second of all - Iβm shocked that some people canβt see the difference of the usage of the thumb up and believe that itβs always rude, regardless of context.
It's a little bit of a generational/cultural gap, I think! Like how Ok. and Ok... are fully normal to boomers, but anyone millennial and younger are going to read that as being short, or as an ominous trailing off compared to the neutral, no-caps-no-punctuation kk or ok.
I think children up through the younger end of millennials are just more likely to give neutral-to-lightly-positive acknowledgement in other ways, like π«‘or β or π₯° or π―. π is reserved by some for lower enthusiasm or even a restrained, mild annoyance.
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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...)
It has too much function to take it as a dismissive reply... unless it's obvious.
For work I use it all the time to confirm I got an email. I can see how it may ruffle feathers, but my other colleagues don't even confirm they got the message. Using the thumbs up also helps me organize what I need to do because half it is just in emails I gave a thumbs up to.
If I just replied π to this post, I can see how that would be bullshit but that's not how Im using it.
Its kinda like saying "sir" or "ma'am." Some people are too good for it imo and some people may have good reasons to feel uneasy about it, but to me it is respectful to use it as long as you aren't clearly a shit head.
I had this discussion with my wife a few weeks ago. She did that to a work colleague who took offense to it. I explained that that's because her colleague is about 8 years younger than us.
Basically, if the recipient is 35 and under, it's offensive. If they're 40 and older, it's not. Anywhere in between, look for context.
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.
Just like a curt "yes" or even "yes sir" can be seen as somewhat rude in some contexts, so to can its emoji equivalent.
It depends on the context and the person for me.
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.
It's called the use of sarcasm.
Just make sure you don't use it, or fail to clarify and confirm the meaning of its use, in a business setting or you could be in some trouble.
Most of the time, yes.
Sometimes
Depends on context - if it's a yes/no question or something that can be replied to with a simple "great" or "okay", thumbs up serves as a "yes" or as a gesture that the person has read the message and doesn't have any problems with it.
It might be considered rude though for more complex discussions, where you need to respond in sentences
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?
Yes lmao, where you been? People want to be offended now to the degree where they look for things that aren't really offensive but they can use it for sympathy likes.
Maybe I just have tuned my ability to notice it from years of "nothing is ever good enough" parents, teachers, and employers, but it's literally the same mechanism that made my mom say "well a B is good but you need to be getting As. (And later) Well that low A is good but you need to get it higher." Or my boss just always saying "faster faster" no matter how much "faster faster" you go, so I now just say "you got it boss" and continue at my pace instead of breaking my back just to hear "faster faster" again in response like he's some kind of weird Gull that gained the ability to mimic human speech it can't comprehend. It all comes from the same place, plus a dash of clickbait.
For a long time when I worked in restaurants and the boss would start blasting us with "faster!!!" we just all go "working hard, working hard" with no added enthusiasm or energy.
I agree with all of what you said. Both paragraphs
π
π
π
π
No. Your reading of it is unusual, in most contexts. It almost always means "agreement, and I have nothing of substance to add".
It can be rude if the thing you've said should warrant a substantial response. Like if you wrote "my brother just died in a car wreck", a thumbs up (or probably any emoji) would be an inappropriate response. Heavier stuff warrants whole words.
But if it's like "Can you get cat food at the store? The kind we always get" then a thumbs up is an acceptable shorthand for "yes, I understand and commit to this request "