Tuesday, June 9, 2015

Seeing faces everywhere

Pansy faces
Yes, I see faces everywhere I look. In old barns, in flowers like these scrunched-up pansy faces, anywhere that there are possible eyes and a mouth. Noses are not always necessary. That pansy looks to me like an old man with a moustache, or maybe a lion. There is a word for this tendency: pareidolia. (The link takes you to Wikipedia which explains more about it.)

I've always done it, and now that emoji (or emoticons) have become ubiquitous, there is even an Emojipedia page. That way, anybody who wants to find out the true meaning of that weird emoticon he or she received from a so-called friend, well, there it is.

And just this morning I learned about Japanese emojis, such as the shrug, also known as a kaomoji, because it's based on some Japanese characters. Here it is: ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ and I find it interesting that it's taken off the way it has partly because (taken from The Atlantic):
The meaning of the “the shruggie” is always two, if not three- or four fold. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ represents nihilism, “bemused resignation,” and “a Zen-like tool to accept the chaos of universe.” It is Sisyphus in unicode. 
The world is definitely changing, isn't it?  I am certainly having fun with these new communication tools, and learning stuff to boot!
:-)
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20 comments:

  1. TexWisGirlJune 9, 2015 at 1:11 PM

    i get a bit 'i don't know' out of a shrug. :)

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  2. Fun60June 9, 2015 at 1:36 PM

    You keep right up there with your tech knowledge.

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  3. Far Side of FiftyJune 9, 2015 at 1:41 PM

    \_(ツ)_/¯ I just copied and pasted:)

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  4. Elephant's ChildJune 9, 2015 at 2:21 PM

    You are leaving me in the dust with your technological adoptions.
    And I love the pansy faces.

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  5. Linda KayJune 9, 2015 at 2:53 PM

    I think the shrug is kind of amusing. And it's not easy to figure out either.

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  6. Hootin AnniJune 9, 2015 at 3:30 PM

    \_(ツ)_/¯ I LIKE IT!!

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  7. Meryl BaerJune 9, 2015 at 4:48 PM

    I cannot keep up with the latest tech languages and symbols. The older I get the more out of touch I seem to be.

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  8. Linda W.June 9, 2015 at 8:22 PM

    People are getting very creative with all those symbols! Guess I'm behind the times.

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  9. Linda ReederJune 9, 2015 at 9:26 PM

    Thanks for keeping us up to date with these tech symbols. Will I use them?
    (Shrug) I'll have to practice making that other thing. :-)

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  10. R. J.June 10, 2015 at 6:32 AM

    What a fun post. Flowers are so fascinating.

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  11. Sharon WagnerJune 10, 2015 at 7:13 AM

    I can think of worse habits than seeing faces in things. It figures you would have such an endearing habit DJan! It seems like you love people.

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  12. RitaJune 10, 2015 at 7:15 AM

    I am quite out of the emojicon loop. I use :) ;) and :( and that's about it. I'm trying to figure out where to find the slanted mouth on the shrug--LOL!

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  13. RianJune 10, 2015 at 7:29 AM

    ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ looks like *whatever..." to me

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  14. Heidrun Khokhar, KleinsteMotteJune 10, 2015 at 7:31 AM

    The world of tech is indeed changing. Today's kids would likelt search for an on button on an old typewriter and wonder how it got power when they cannot find one.

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  15. AnonymousJune 10, 2015 at 8:19 AM

    Yeah, I see that old man with the mustache in that pansy, too. How amusing!

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  16. A Brit in TennesseeJune 10, 2015 at 9:50 AM

    Yes, I've always thought of the monkey-faced pansies as fascinating.
    Technology scares me sometimes, all the hacking and the filming, but then we wouldn't have our blogging format if we didn't move forward.
    I'm smiling at the pansy faces :)
    ~Jo

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  17. Stella JonesJune 10, 2015 at 10:04 AM

    I like them too but I've never seen one as complicated as that Japanese example!

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  18. TomJune 10, 2015 at 4:45 PM

    The world is certainly changing, but you're keep right up with it!

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  19. KayJune 10, 2015 at 7:14 PM

    I think I would have called that shrug "Oh well..." That's so much fun!

    I do love the emojis. Are they no longer called emoticons? I use them quite often when I text my kids.

    I love pansies too!

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  20. Trish and Rob MacGregorJune 10, 2015 at 9:30 PM

    Weird!

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