😋 is a grinning face with its tongue swept across the corner of the mouth. It entered Unicode 6.0 in 2010, and its official name, “face savoring food,” explains the core meaning: that happy moment when you look at something delicious and your mouth waters. Informally it is the “yum face.” The tongue gives it extra mischief, though, so it has been drafted into plenty of cheeky, non-food jokes.
How it’s used
- On a food photo: “Lunch today: tonkatsu 😋”
- A craving: “Now I’m thinking about tacos 😋”
- A review: “Best carbonara in town 😋”
- Looking forward: “Dinner tonight is steak 😋”
- Teasing: “I got the last slice, sorry not sorry 😋”
🤤 (drooling face) is wanting it; 😋 is enjoying it, or at least anticipating the first bite. 😛 (face with tongue) is pure playfulness, while 😝 and 😜 add squeezed or winking eyes to the same tongue-out joke. 😋 sits between the two groups, which is why it works both for lunch and for gentle teasing.
Korea, Japan and the English-speaking world
In English-speaking social media 😋 is the food emoji, appearing under restaurant posts, recipes and snack photos. “Yum 😋” is exactly what it sounds like. When it is aimed at a person, though, it takes on a flirtatious, “you look good” flavor, and many people are careful about this. It is a classic of ironic captions too, such as someone about to eat a dessert they promised not to touch.
In Korea, where food talk dominates chats, it is among the first reactions to restaurant reviews, delivery orders and snacks, usually next to words like 냠냠, 맛있겠다 and 땡긴다 (“I’m craving it”). Its teasing use is natural too, as in “이건 내 거~😋” (“this one’s mine”).
In Japan its name is にこにこぺろり, which ties it to ぺろり: finishing a meal in one go, or a quick flick of the tongue. People use it for 「おいしそう😋」 and around meals, and it also overlaps with the てへぺろ look, a sheepish tongue-out smile after a small mistake.
Where it gets misread
- Under a photo of a person, it is not about food. It can read as appreciative, cheeky or too forward.
- It is different from 😛, which is teasing and has no appetite attached. People mix them up, and both look too casual for formal settings.
- It doesn’t mean “disgusting.” Bad food is 🤢 or 😖.
- If someone is going through a hard time, a food-flavored smile is a poor fit.
Design differences by platform
All platforms draw a broad smile with a tongue licking at the corner of the mouth. The eyes (open and bright, or squeezed in a smile), the direction of the tongue and the mouth interior vary a little, so some versions look mischievous and others plainly satisfied. Apple’s face is crisp and round, Google’s Noto is simple and cute, Microsoft’s Fluent is notably three-dimensional, and Samsung’s clear outline reads as a little cheekier.
