To text or not to subtext? Decoding how Gen Z, Millennials and Gen X use emojis, short forms differently

Representational images. Pic/iStock

In Alice in Wonderland, the Mad Hatter tells a bewildered Alice, "You should say what you mean." "I do," Alice hastily replies; "at least - at least I mean what I say - that's the same thing, you know." This exchange best sums up the difference between the way a Gen Xer and a Gen Zee texts. One says what they mean; the other, means what they say - with a heavy undertow of subtext.

Gen X (1965-1980) has lived through many textual atrocities: The first such communication is documented to have taken place over Instant Messengers (Yahoo! And MSN) on computers when it was just a shade insolent (not passive aggressive) to type ‘K', LOL (Laugh Out Loud), ROFL (Rolling On the Floor with Laughter) and BRB (Be Right Back); the omission of vowels, whn v typd lk dis, tip-toed into SMSes (Short Message Service) before predictive text swooped in to save communication and stopped things from spiralling jUZT wen dEy were gOing $oUTh.

The invention of emoticons (the OG emoji) by arranging punctuation made us : ), ; ), :' ) and express literally 'looks sheepish', until autocorrect arrived: DUCK!

DUCK! DUCK!

So, when Gen Z began throwing shade with their new term-imposters, Gen X was a little word-weary, but with strong and defined eyeballs from all the eye-rolling over decades. As a social-linguistic experiment, two writers from each generation on our team asked peers just exactly what they meant when they text.

Jasmeen Ara Shaikh and Pranjal Poddar

The difference in communication strategies were clear at the onset: The Gen Xer is part of many WhatsApp groups (evolved from Reply All mailing lists), the key ones have her gangs (tribe, in marketing lingo) from college, school and former jobs - a mix of millennials and Gen Xers.

The questions both writers asked were: How often and in what context do you use some of the popular emojis? Who do you use them with? Do you use punctuation? "Millennial here," confesses Deepti Rao promptly. "Don't slang much, sorry. Using emojis only was such a leap."

But the Gen Z writer has messaged colleagues on WhatsApp and was "shooketh" to get one-word replies of "Okay." Just "Okay." As Pranjal Poddar, a marketer from Thane, says, "There is no context in which just ‘okay' is okay." As any Gen Z spool of individuality would know, texting with full stops is just not weirdly punctual, also extremely passive aggressive. The dictionary may define it as "all right", but over text, it means anything but that. Even worse is the abbreviated "Ok". To Rao, variations of spellings denote different things, "Okay cool means okay cool," says the Wadala-based pet toys entrepreneur. "Okayyy means ‘okay but wtf (what the f''')'; Okay is ‘okay, over and out' and K means ‘it's really not okay'." Better to do like Poddar and just substitute it with "cool" or use the thumbs up emoji like Meenakshi Bhanj Deo. "I don't use K and hate it when others do."

Short forms like NGL (Not gonna lie), IDK (I don't know), W (win), L (loss), and even KS (Kya Scene) feature prominently in Gen Z texting lingo, and is practically incomprehensible to others. "It's quirky to start a text with FR [for real]," the 26-year-old says. "It's also a cool ice-breaker." Jemin Shah, 26, feels "lit" and "sus" adequately convey "fabulous" and "suspicious".

The world of emojis is a whole another game of Scrabble. They mean different things to a person under 30 and a person above 40. For most Gen Xers and millennials, all emojis and slang was pretty straightforward. "I use most emojis depending on the mood I'm trying to convey," says Dubai resident Pavithra Levin, "Mostly with friends, family and acquaintances. I feel it just helps to clarify the mood of the statement - I may mean it as a light-hearted statement, but without emoji it could be misunderstood as serious."

To Gen Z, the "side-eye" aka "bombastic side eye" is for scandalous or gossipy context. The crying emoji? Something super funny has happened, that's making you cry out of hilarity. The skull emoji says you've died laughing - you're "ded". Rao is "ded" often from too much cuteness, like seeing a "super cute dog. You can't help but [be] Ded". While Bhanj Deo, a health food entrepreneur wonders what efficiency leaving out one letter brings, Rao explains, "Dead is so dark; ded is just all cute."

The blushing face emoji is loaded with connotations - all of them bad. It stars in fights and heated conversations. "Although it looks harmless," explains Poddar, "it is dangerous. It means something is definitely wrong. The person is ticked off but masking emotions with a smile. It's very passive aggressive." Not so for Rao; she uses it all the time as her customer service face. Poddar says, "I use the loudly crying emoji when I'm over the moon to say ‘I'm outright crying'." But it's different for Gen X texters. "Older members of my family use that emoji on [literally] sad occasions, to convey genuine grief," observes Shah. "It's straightforward."

What about the evergreen "thumbs-up", one of the few emoticons acceptable in corporate communication? "It's generally only used in professional settings for acknowledgement," Shah explains.

And then there's the recent phenomenon of lowercase texting, to maintain a sense of detachment from the situation. It signifies that "I'm too cool to be emotionally invested in this convo". Jasmeen Ara Shaikh, a 19-year-old BMM student, tells us that in the world of dating apps, using lowercase letters is one part of the chase-and-conquer game. "On a dating app, using proper punctuation and grammatically correct language shows you're too invested in the conversation," says the Wadala resident.

And what role does punctuation play? "Whenever I want to express anger or disappointment, I use a full stop," Shaikh says. "I use punctuations like they are meant to be used," says Pavithra, a homemaker and (tellingly) an English Literature graduate. "I'm not very comfortable with lack of punctuations." But to Rao, the use of punctuation and sentence case signifies a "resting bitch face". "I don't use punctuation," confesses Bhanj Deo, a Parsik Hill resident, "the only ones I use is ........ [a string of periods] for separation of statements" which is something Rao doesn't mind, as long as it doesn't take her three minutes to figure out what the person is saying. She herself does not use punctuation religiously, "But it does help to hear it the way I'm saying it, I thinkkkk?"

Pradnya Hattiangadi, dog trainer, behaviourist and millennial, says the use of punctuation and emoji, especially in her professional communication is a game changer. She keeps in touch with pet parents on family WhatsApp groups where, "Even something [innocuous] like asking for homework [tasks to do with the dog] or setting the next appointment changes context when you add an emoji or punctuation. ‘Have you done the homework?' with the question mark seems
rude and intrusive," says the Matunga resident.

With so much subtext, miscommunication is unavoidable. "There is a tendency to over-interpret every message and symbol," Shaikh admits. "Usually, conversations with older people are followed up IRL [in real life]." Poddar, who identifies as borderline Gen Z, says, "I find the way Gen Z texts fascinating - the flamboyant way they speak, with that particular tone... it's almost like they have their own culture."