I tend to have a neutral face. My mom would try to get me to smile, “even a little” because she feared I’d “scare away the boys.” My dad called it a poker face and, interestingly, told.
If I can afford it, I’ll go custom; a bespoke smile built just for me by an emoji speakeasy in a painfully trendy neighborhood. Mouth tilted down ever so slightly at the corners, eyes narrowed to.
Even if you keep a poker face, like Lady Gaga, your microexpressions will betray how you feel. Photograph: Cifra Manuela/Newspix/Rex. Kirstie Brewer @kirstiejbrewer. Tue 16 Feb 2016 02.00 EST.

Shutterstock

Poker Face (noun): an impassive expression that hides one's true feelings. Having a poker face is both a gift and a curse. While you can hide your thoughts and feelings from everyone else, a lot.

Welcome to this article about emoji usage, brought you by someone who almost exclusively uses the purple smiling devil face because I feel it best represents my essence. And also all the witchy emoji, because duh. But see, friends, that is the beauty of this whole thing. We're in this together, to discover once and for all, what all the emoji actually mean. Today, let's get back to basics: What do all the face emoji mean? There are over 50 face emoji, according to Emojipedia, so maybe we should all double-check that we know what each one is and when it should be used.

Let's start what the word 'emoji' means. Did you know that it means 'picture letter,' or pictograph, in Japanese? You do now! Think of emoji as their own alphabet, with each little face representing a specific emotion. Seems obvious, but I don't know your life. Maybe all these variations on a smiley dude freak you out.

Sure, there are hand emoji, cat emoji, heart emoji, and more — but it's the faces that are somehow both the most straightforward and hardest to use, in my opinion. I could text peace signs and exploding hearts and angry cats all the livelong day, but Smooching Face? How? Why? Which version of Smiling Face do I even use, and why are there so many of them? These are the important questions, friends. And we shall answer them — or at least, we'll answer them for 10 of the little pictograms right now. It's worth it to start small, so here's what 10 of the most commonly-encountered face emoji mean.

1. Smiling Face With Open Mouth

Also known as: Smiley Face, Happy Face, 'OMG My Braces Are Finally Off' Face.

Great for: Congratulations, good news, finding the bright side of bad news, excitement, joie de vivre, sarcastically pretending your life doesn't suck, just sayin' hey.

What Emojipedia says: 'A yellow face with smiling eyes and a broad, open smile, showing upper teeth and tongue on some platforms. Often conveys general happiness and good-natured amusement.'

This one's a classic, guys. I started out easy. I know I said we were in this whole 'figuring out faces' thing together, but if you still need help with the basic smiley face, then.. I don't know, man. I just don't know.

2. Smiling Face With Open Mouth And Cold Sweat

Also known as: Happy Sweat Emoji, Exercise Face, 'The One With The Gross-Sounding Description' (or maybe that's just me).

Great for: Exercise-related messages; also moments of tension, relief, or embarrassment.

What Emojipedia says: 'Intended to depict nerves or discomfort but commonly used to express a close call, as if saying Whew! and wiping sweat from the forehead.'

Fun fact: This emoji is essentially the cousin of 'Smiling Face With Open Mouth,' because, as Emojipedia notes, they share the exact same open mouth. Another fun fact? Emojipedia says that some people use this particular emoji to denote exercise — I'm guessing few people are using it for that, though, unless your treadmill jams are especially bopping.

3. Angry Face

Also known as: Grumpy Face, The Grimace.

Great for: Anger, grouchiness, mean muggin', shouting 'How dare you!' over text, bullying someone into giving you the pizza that they just posted on Instagram.

What Emojipedia says: 'Conveys varying degrees of anger, from grumpiness and irritation to disgust and outrage. May also represent someone acting tough or being mean.'

Since anger itself takes many forms, it's appropriate that this emoji seems to vary pretty widely across platforms — according to Emojipedia, its mouth and eyebrows change shape across platforms, and it's even red on platforms like Google and Mozilla. Worth noting in case you're texting from a less red version like Apple, lest your friend get it and think you're at that level of rage.

4. Neutral Face

Poker Face Minecraft

Lightning strike casino slots. Also known as: Straight-Faced Emoji, '..'

Great for: Responding to the news that your BFF's new BF wears fedoras on the reg, 'not saying anything' about your co-worker's claim that crystals healed her asthma, generally passing judgement 24/7.

Singhs casino. What Emojipedia says: 'A yellow face with simple, open eyes and a flat, closed mouth. Intended to depict a neutral sentiment but often used to convey mild irritation.'

I love that this very non-neutral face is called 'neutral.' It perfectly fits with the seriously passive-aggressive vibes it throws out. Per Emojipedia, it's also a close cousin of 'Expressionless Face,' which features the same straight line mouth shape on both of the eyes.

5. Face Blowing A Kiss

Also known as: Kissy Face, Blow A Kiss, *Kissing Sounds*.

Great for: Sending love, being cheeky after maybe being a little ~too~ honest about something, 'being nice' or whatever.

What Emojipedia says: 'May represent a kiss goodbye or good night and convey feelings of love and affection more generally.'

This was initially branded as 'Face Throwing A Kiss' when it was added to Unicode's emoji lineup in 2015, according to Emojipedia, which certainly raises a lot of questions about how one would commit to 'throwing' a kiss — particularly since our little emoji friends have no limbs. Either way, it manages to get the job done, one wink at a time.

6. Winking Face

Also known as: Winky Face.

Great for: Sassing everybody in your contacts list, reminding your friend who exactly she smooched at the bar last night, making non-committal sex jokes.

What Emojipedia says: 'A yellow face with a slight smile shown winking, usually its left eye. May signal a joke, flirtation, hidden meaning, or general positivity. Tone varies, including playful, affectionate, suggestive, or ironic.'

Poker Face Smile

Mostly I just use it for sex-related jokes, to be honest — but Emojipedia notes that it's not to be confused with its close cousin, 'the more mischievous or sexual Smirking Face.' That's right, everyone — the future is here and it wants to give you as many nuanced ways to hit on your contacts as possible.

7. Face With Stuck Out Tongue

Also known as: Cheeky Emoji, Licky Face, 'LOL JK I Love You' Face.

Great for: Goofing on your pals, alleviating that social gaffe you just made over text wherein your sarcasm translated directly and your mom actually thought you were never, ever coming home ever again.

What Emojipedia says: 'A yellow face with small, open eyes and a big grin, playfully sticking out its tongue. Can variously convey a sense of fun, excitement, silliness, cuteness, happiness, or jesting, as if saying Just kidding!'

This emoji is yet another one with so