How You Laugh Over Text May Reveal Your Age, Expert Suggests

EmojiWe’ve already written at HuffPost UK about how you say the letter “Z” can tell more about your age than you might realise. The same may go for certain punctuation, like double spacing, the notorious “Boomer ellipses,” and even the supposedly “endangered” semicolon. But this World Emoji Day, Anna Pyshna, a spokesperson for language learning app Preply, said how you show laughter over text might be another such marker. One emoji in particular seems to be a part of the generational divide, she added.Older people may be confused by the use of the skull emoji to mean laughterThe language app found that where previous generations might use a smiling face with tears of joy to signal laughter, younger people might prefer a skull. “This shift has swept through social platforms like TikTok, Instagram, and X, where the skull emoji’s ironic tone matches Gen Z’s preference for dry, surreal, or exaggerated humour,” she shared.“It’s a kind of emotional hyperbole, saying something’s so funny it ‘killed’ you. To older generations, that can sound dark or even offensive. But to younger users, it’s just another way to say ‘LOL.’”Another option includes the crying face emoji, which indicates someone is laughing so hard they’re weeping. “Emojis feel like a shared language, but their meanings evolve just like words do,” the expert continued. “Emojis are an extension of how we speak, think, and joke. They’re not static, but are instead shaped by pop culture, memes, and even literature. That’s why they resonate differently depending on who’s using them.” Death and humour are increasingly being linked in daily language, too Preply found that the association between death and laughing has been growing in general, not just in emoji use, since the ’40s (they used Google’s Books Ngram Viewer to find these numbers). Across Spanish, Italian, French, and English, phrases like “dying laughing” and “dead funny” have been on the rise in everyday speech in that period, it seems.“For grandparents born in the 1940s, the idea of pairing death with laughter would have been unfamiliar,” Anna claimed.“As the data shows, phrases like ‘dying of laughter’ and ‘dead funny’ were virtually nonexistent in literature during their formative years.“This dramatic linguistic shift suggests that associating death with humour is a modern, global phenomenon and one that’s only in the past few years started influencing how we use emojis.” Who knew so much went into a little text...Related...How You Pronounce This Letter May Reveal Your Age, Linguist SaysUsing This Punctuation Mark May Reveal Your Age, Experts Say'Nothing Says Over 50' Like Following This 1 Grammar Rule, Experts Say

Comments

Breaking news

Don’t expect water bills to stop rising after we overhaul sector, minister warns

Metro

Dailymail

Now Ryanair pay staff bonuses to catch out passengers with oversized cabin bags - after EasyJet introduced similar incentive

about 3 hours ago

Israel issues new evacuation orders in crowded central Gazan city

BBC News

Comments

Breaking news

Don’t expect water bills to stop rising after we overhaul sector, minister warns

Opera cast member unfurls Palestine flag during curtain call on London stage

Partner of Amazon driver, 23, killed in train crash says ‘he was so loved’

News diary 21-27 July: Trump visits Scotland, Women’s Euros final, Oasis at Wembley

Study reveals which states are sending the most transplants to America’s 5 biggest cities

Congo and rebels have committed to ending war in the east. Here's what to know

Trump’s push to change Coke: Is cane sugar better for you than corn syrup?

Stephen Flynn jokes he’ll be ‘washing hair’ when Donald Trump visits UK

Scottie Scheffler is rounding his way toward third leg of career Grand Slam at British Open

Trump’s team wanted Kilmar Abrego Garcia to face ‘American justice.’ He could be deported again before trial

Gen Zers are becoming home owners by buying in cheap small cities (and yes, sometimes having parental help)

Forest fire haze from Indonesia detected in Malaysia

Senior Pentagon adviser, who alleged colleague called the cops on him, fired by Pete Hegseth

Labour Is Promising To Reduce Sewage Leaks – But Haven't We Heard All This Before?

Moscow airports in chaos after fourth night of Ukraine drone strikes on city

Labour brings c2c into public ownership – What does this mean for you?

Volunteers flock to immigration courts to support migrants arrested in the hallways

Reeves ‘eyes £5bn windfall from sale of seized cryptocurrency’

Inside the battle to save a once award-winning building which is now crumbling from neglect

Labour minister says he is ‘not at all surprised’ by Reform’s lead in the polls

Bulgarian authorities seize a large amount of cocaine hidden in a van

Tourist boat survivor recalls moment vessel ‘shook vigorously’ before capsizing

Pope Leo XIV renews his call for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza

Water sports park shut as police launch urgent search for missing woman in Cheshire

'Holiday from hell' as Scots family given 'mouldy caravan with hole in it'

Tragic Scots mum 'crushed' after losing baby at 20 weeks fights for law change

SNP 'sitting on cash' rather than investing in Scottish hospices, warns Labour

Offer made on historic Perthshire castle with royal connections

‘I’m not a fan of hero movies, but the world needs to listen to Superman 2025'

Woman with 'world's biggest lips' looks unrecognisable before extreme filler

'People are not more important than the team': Minister backs Labour rebels' suspension

Man arrested on suspicion of double murder after elderly couple killed in fire

Who are the Druze, who are they fighting and why did latest Syrian clashes begin?

Air India's 'seat 11A' miracle survivor living 'life of torment' since crash

Sue and Noel Radford's naughty sex confession after pumping out 22 kids

'My Tory MP husband raped me while I slept and screamed abuse at our newborn baby'

Weather warnings cover UK with Brits drenched - see exact time rain will stop

Woman with 'world's biggest lips' looked so different before all the filler

Thug beat and stripped his own friend before parading him through streets naked

Spider-Man who performs at children's parties sexually abused girl for years

Woman who fell to her death from tower block was fighting ex-lover for mansion

The areas most at risk of a measles outbreak REVEALED amid slump in MMR vaccination rates

BBC Breakfast presenters Luxmy Gopal and Ben Bland are left stunned after 'impatient guest' attempts an early exit from the studio floor

Scuffle breaks out after cast member raises Palestinian flag on Royal Opera House stage

Anger as Gaza documentary producer allegedly celebrated Palestinian terrorists as 'martyrs' - including one who gunned down Jewish boy, 14, and six others in Holocaust Memorial Day killing spree

Newlyweds Charli XCX and George Daniel share glimpse of couple's wild afterparty with champagne, cigarettes and pasta

Shocking moment Delta Airlines's Boeing flight engine catches fire during take-off in Los Angeles

Showing his true colours? What Union Jack dress row family REALLY think of stepfather who thrust girl into spotlight and triggered political storm

Braless Eva Longoria, 50, stuns in a daringly plunging silk gown as she attends charity gala in Marbella

Chelsea manor listed for £250million becomes one of London's most valuable after owner quits London because 'Britain has gone to hell'

JD Vance set to spark gridlock hell in The Cotswolds after US Vice President reveals plans for family holiday in 'Britain's answer to The Hamptons'

Leona Lewis cuts a glam figure as she puts on a showstopping performance alongside drag queens at G-A-Y in London just days after receiving an OBE from King Charles

Ian Huntley whines he is 'being picked on' after guards storm his cell and seize football shirt, DVDs and photos of ex-lover Maxine Carr

Could Bitcoin help Rachel Reeves fill the black hole in UK finances? Chancellor 'could profit from £5bn sale' of seized criminal crypto cash

Now Ryanair pay staff bonuses to catch out passengers with oversized cabin bags - after EasyJet introduced similar incentive

Israel issues new evacuation orders in crowded central Gazan city

Reform councillors obstructed by officials, Farage says

'Cautious calm' reported in southern Syria after week of deadly tribal clashes

Pressure & better keepers - why penalties are being missed at Euro 2025

China Exit Ban on Wells Fargo Executive Stokes Foreign Business Anxiety