Yes, old people totally understand emoji (except maybe that eggplant one)

Oh, and there was just a tad bit of confusion about 💩.
 By 
Jack Morse
 on 
Yes, old people totally understand emoji (except maybe that eggplant one)
"Eggplant for dinner again?" Credit: Westend61/Getty

Parents, they just don't understand. Right?

Well, yes and no.

A new survey shows that when it comes to emoji, most seniors totally do get it. Except, that is, with one tiny eggplant-styled exception.

Great Senior Living, a site that focuses on senior care and retirement living, surveyed 500 people aged 55 and older on their emoji use and discovered that contrary to any ageist notions floating around, your parents and grandparents didn't just fall off the digital turnip truck.

Over 86 percent of respondents had used emoji at least once, and a majority of them were deploying the pictographs in a manner we would deem to be correct.

"One of the most recognized emojis by our respondents was the 'Hands Praying,'" the findings explain. "Almost 90 percent identified this emoji correctly, yet nearly 10 percent thought this emoji represented a high-five."

It's totally legit to see 🙏 and think either "hands praying" or "high five" (Emojipedia says this one is technically called "folded hands" and can be interpreted as either), and those surveyed were clearly in the know.

The areas where misunderstanding did occur were for the most part reasonable. The classic poop emoji? Seventy-six percent nailed it, but 18 percent looked at that swirly 💩 and thought ice cream. The peach emoji, commonly used to refer to a butt, fared a little worse with 42 percent thinking it meant "feeling peachy" and 35 percent thinking it was just a general fruit. This would help explain any 🍑💩 texts from the parents — who doesn't love peach ice cream, after all?

The eggplant emoji, on the other hand, is apparently in need of a PR push.

Sixty-nice percent (insert obligatory "nice") believed that 🍆 referred to either cooking eggplant or vegetables. And, well, while they're not wrong exactly the youngsters of the world know what it really means.

Interestingly, 29 percent of those surveyed had no problem identifying the eggplant as "in reference to a penis." Far be it from me to speculate, but I would imagine there is some overlap in that latter group and the ones who identified 🙏 as a high five.

Basically, just because you're over 55 doesn't mean you don't know how to party. Remember that, kids, because you won't be young forever — and as the hip emoji users of this survey make clear, getting on in your years doesn't mean the good emoji times need to stop. 🎉

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Jack Morse

Professionally paranoid. Covering privacy, security, and all things cryptocurrency and blockchain from San Francisco.

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