Netflix’s latest miniseries Adolescence has confronted us with some hard-hitting facts about toxic masculinity, the manosphere, and the internet culture of teens. The current generation of teenagers does not use internet the way we do or did 10-15 years ago. They have created a whole new language for themselves that is alien to us. And this is the language of emojis. The cute, harmless emojis on our phones no longer mean what we think they do. Decoding these emojis and the current abbreviations used by teenagers is a challenge parents and educators did not see coming.

Emojis are communication

Emojis are a growing medium of communication. A lot is said without words if you use the right emojis. Adolescence opens the gates to this dark world for us. In the second episode of the miniseries DI Bascombe’s son Adam tells his father and us the language of teens on social media.

“It’s not going well because you’re not getting it,” Adam tells his dad about the investigation. “You’re not reading what they’re doing, what’s happening.” Sitting down, Adam continues: “Insta. You’ve been looking at Insta, right? So you’ve seen what she wrote?” He then takes out his phone to show his dad Katie’s comments to Jamie. “Looks like she’s being nice, right?” he asks, at which point Walters responds: “Isn’t she?”

That’s when it hits Bascombe and all of us that what we have perceived as playful conversations not only in the show but also in our real lives go way beyond our imagination. Adam then explains the meaning of each emoji – the purple heart, the kidney beans, the 100 emoji, and so much more. While we get to know the meaning of a bunch of these emojis through Adolescence, there are so many more still not deciphered. But it’s important, especially if you are parents of teens or even if you’re a young person participating in the internet culture. It’s important to know the meaning of what you’re writing before you write it.

Manosphere, incel, and more

Here’s what different emojis mean in the world of young teens, including purple hearts and kidney beans.

1. Red pill (💊) – Adam tells his dad, “The red pill is like, ‘I see the truth’. It’s a call to action by the manosphere.” Now, the manosphere is a varied collection of websites, blogs, and other online platforms promoting masculinity, misogyny and opposition to feminism. In this context, the red pill means an awakening to the “truth” behind the gender dynamics.

2. Heart emojis (💜) – Adam explains the meaning of each heart emoji in the second episode. He explains, “Red means love, purple – horny, yellow means ‘I’m interested, are you interested’, pink – ‘I’m interested but not in sex’, orange – ‘You’re going to be fine’.”

3. Kidney bean (🫘) – Adam explains that the kidney bean emoji is used to self-identify as an incel. Now what is incel, you might wonder. Incel is a combination of two words – involuntarily celibate. Incels are a group of “heterosexual men who blame women and society for their lack of romantic success.”

4. 100 emoji (💯) – For all of us, the 100 emoji means that you agree with someone or when something is a 100/100, but in the world of teens, this emoji means something entirely different. Adam explains that the 100 emoji refers to the 80/20 rule. He says, “80 per cent of women are attracted to 20 per cent of men. Women, you must trick them because you’ll never get them in a normal way. 80 per cent of women are cut off… she’s saying he’s an incel.”

5. Dynamite emoji (🧨) – This emoji refers to an exploding red pill, meaning that someone is an incel. So, sending a dynamite emoji to someone is to call them an incel.

World of emojis beyond Adolescence

Apart from these, many other emojis carry some underlying connotations to them.

It’s important to remember that context is everything. The same emojis mean different things in different conversations.

And if you think this is it, here are some more slang terms you should know about:

GNOC: Get naked on camera
NIFOC: Naked in front of computer
P911: Parents are watching
KPC: Keep parents clueless
CU46: See you for sex
CD9: Parents are around

Netflix’s miniseries Adolescence has taught us so much about the hidden meaning of emojis and the internet culture of teens. It’s about time we start to learn their language to be able to each them the difference between right and wrong.

Related: ‘Adolescence’ Single-Take Episodes: Do You Know An Indian Show Did It First?