the default Internet feeling: ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
July 19, 2014 10:04 PM Subscribe
The life and times of ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
After seeing the light of ¯\_(ツ)_/¯, it's hard to not notice it everywhere. Han Solo makes the gesture in Star Wars, as Reddit noticed in 2012. Daily Dot writer Miles Klee caught the Spider-Man super villain Mysterio doing it. In 2013, it appeared in a Reddit post that commanded users "lol idk just upvote." "Lol idk" seems like a fairly apt description of the shruggie's meaning, but it also doesn't begin to describe the nihilism that ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ embodies today.
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That's sort of a weird article. First it presents the notion that the graphic means this, then suddenly it's saying it's that. Or maybe this other thing. lol wtf idk.
In conclusion, ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ is a land of contrasts.
posted by Greg_Ace at 10:31 PM on July 19, 2014 [20 favorites]
In conclusion, ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ is a land of contrasts.
posted by Greg_Ace at 10:31 PM on July 19, 2014 [20 favorites]
I basically use this for something like "My client did something spectacularly dumb despite my best efforts to stop them, so now I'm trying to clean up the consequences because it's technically my job to do so even though both you and I know this is spectacularly dumb."
¯\_(ツ)_/¯ is just shorter.
posted by Ghostride The Whip at 10:37 PM on July 19, 2014 [4 favorites]
¯\_(ツ)_/¯ is just shorter.
posted by Ghostride The Whip at 10:37 PM on July 19, 2014 [4 favorites]
ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ is my new go-to.
My new job involves a lot of irate emails from faculty. I'm having a hard time not inserting that lil guy right into my sig.
posted by Existential Dread at 10:43 PM on July 19, 2014 [19 favorites]
My new job involves a lot of irate emails from faculty. I'm having a hard time not inserting that lil guy right into my sig.
posted by Existential Dread at 10:43 PM on July 19, 2014 [19 favorites]
The shrug abides.
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 10:53 PM on July 19, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 10:53 PM on July 19, 2014 [1 favorite]
Take away the arms, and (ツ) looks like Homestar Runner.
posted by Faint of Butt at 11:02 PM on July 19, 2014 [13 favorites]
posted by Faint of Butt at 11:02 PM on July 19, 2014 [13 favorites]
I see the bluebird of happiness giving the reader a jaunty finger ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ with its right hand/wing. Which also works for your use of it.
posted by five fresh fish at 11:21 PM on July 19, 2014
posted by five fresh fish at 11:21 PM on July 19, 2014
What I like about it is probably one dude found whatever characters were needed to create that and it's a steady streaming of copy-paste all the way down.
posted by 2bucksplus at 11:23 PM on July 19, 2014 [13 favorites]
posted by 2bucksplus at 11:23 PM on July 19, 2014 [13 favorites]
¯\_(ツ)_/¯ is the latest evolution of "Whatever", preceded by Alfred E. Neuman's "What? Me Worry?" and, going even further back, comedian Dayton Allen's catchphrase "Why Not?" that even got him using it to punctuate a pop record.
Now, what I'm looking for is a "kaomoji" representation of Neil deGrasse Tyson's "We got a badass here" gesture.
posted by oneswellfoop at 11:29 PM on July 19, 2014 [3 favorites]
Now, what I'm looking for is a "kaomoji" representation of Neil deGrasse Tyson's "We got a badass here" gesture.
posted by oneswellfoop at 11:29 PM on July 19, 2014 [3 favorites]
Could be worse. Could be ／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼
posted by Chocolate Pickle at 11:40 PM on July 19, 2014 [7 favorites]
posted by Chocolate Pickle at 11:40 PM on July 19, 2014 [7 favorites]
This is a gallic shrug, right?
I watch Househunters International ALL. THE. TIME.
My favorite episode featured an American lady -- very tall, over 6 feet, African-American, I think -- looking for a place in Paris.
One of the places she looked at was an apartment that was above a little shop. A little shop called -- I shit you not -- "Pffft".
I don't know what they sold, but I thought that was the most French thing I have ever seen. I imagined walking in, and saying "Excuse me, but do you have....?" and being greeted by the staff doing the Gallic shrug and saying "Pffft."
posted by potsmokinghippieoverlord at 11:41 PM on July 19, 2014 [14 favorites]
I watch Househunters International ALL. THE. TIME.
My favorite episode featured an American lady -- very tall, over 6 feet, African-American, I think -- looking for a place in Paris.
One of the places she looked at was an apartment that was above a little shop. A little shop called -- I shit you not -- "Pffft".
I don't know what they sold, but I thought that was the most French thing I have ever seen. I imagined walking in, and saying "Excuse me, but do you have....?" and being greeted by the staff doing the Gallic shrug and saying "Pffft."
posted by potsmokinghippieoverlord at 11:41 PM on July 19, 2014 [14 favorites]
THE REUTERS PHOTO FROM SHERYL SANDBERG’S NON-APOLOGY PRESS EVENT IS LITERALLY ¯\_(ツ)_/¯.
posted by KatlaDragon at 11:43 PM on July 19, 2014 [4 favorites]
posted by KatlaDragon at 11:43 PM on July 19, 2014 [4 favorites]
┐(´-｀)┌
posted by p3on at 11:58 PM on July 19, 2014 [5 favorites]
posted by p3on at 11:58 PM on July 19, 2014 [5 favorites]
Could be worse. Could be ／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼
Oh shit my soul keep it away
posted by rifflesby at 12:56 AM on July 20, 2014 [1 favorite]
Oh shit my soul keep it away
posted by rifflesby at 12:56 AM on July 20, 2014 [1 favorite]
Great moments of ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ throughout history:
"Some things are in our control and others not ... " -- Epictetus, The Enchiridion
"For the first time, in that night alive with signs and stars, I opened myself to the gentle indifference of the world. Finding it so much like myself--so like a brother--I felt that I had been happy and that I was happy again" -- Camus, The Stranger
posted by Monsieur Caution at 2:16 AM on July 20, 2014 [2 favorites]
"Some things are in our control and others not ... " -- Epictetus, The Enchiridion
"For the first time, in that night alive with signs and stars, I opened myself to the gentle indifference of the world. Finding it so much like myself--so like a brother--I felt that I had been happy and that I was happy again" -- Camus, The Stranger
posted by Monsieur Caution at 2:16 AM on July 20, 2014 [2 favorites]
┐(´-｀)┌
First Homestar, and now, Strong Sad.
posted by JHarris at 2:49 AM on July 20, 2014 [7 favorites]
First Homestar, and now, Strong Sad.
posted by JHarris at 2:49 AM on July 20, 2014 [7 favorites]
Clearly, Miles Klee does not read enough comics. In that image, Mysterio is doing the classic villain gesture "Behold My Evil Plan." He is not expressing smug uncertainty but malevolent (although likely misplaced) certainty. Which could be a useful emoji for our political class....
posted by GenjiandProust at 3:12 AM on July 20, 2014 [3 favorites]
posted by GenjiandProust at 3:12 AM on July 20, 2014 [3 favorites]
MartinWisse: "How to write ¯\_(ツ)_/¯."
Metafilter: I had a reaction of some sort to that stimulus.
posted by Gordafarin at 3:28 AM on July 20, 2014 [1 favorite]
Metafilter: I had a reaction of some sort to that stimulus.
posted by Gordafarin at 3:28 AM on July 20, 2014 [1 favorite]
¯\_(ツ)¯\_ ¯\_(ツ)¯\_ ¯\_(ツ)¯\_ ¯\_(ツ)¯\_ ¯\_(ツ)¯\_ ¯\_(ツ)¯\_ ¯\_(ツ)¯\_ ¯\_(ツ)¯\_ ¯\_(ツ)¯\_
posted by ardgedee at 4:24 AM on July 20, 2014 [31 favorites]
posted by ardgedee at 4:24 AM on July 20, 2014 [31 favorites]
It is too early in the morning for The Bangles, ardgedee!
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 4:35 AM on July 20, 2014 [39 favorites]
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 4:35 AM on July 20, 2014 [39 favorites]
It's also a drawing of Bud Selig making the All Star Game a tie. Never forget
posted by drezdn at 5:08 AM on July 20, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by drezdn at 5:08 AM on July 20, 2014 [1 favorite]
¯\_(ツ)¯\_
˘˘˘˘˘˘˘˘˘˘˘˘˘
It's a smiling swimmer.
posted by GrammarMoses at 6:03 AM on July 20, 2014 [14 favorites]
˘˘˘˘˘˘˘˘˘˘˘˘˘
It's a smiling swimmer.
posted by GrammarMoses at 6:03 AM on July 20, 2014 [14 favorites]
"Some things are in our control and others not ... " -- Epictetus, The Enchiridion
Shrugs call for the simplest expression -- if we're talking Epictetus, "Bear and forbear" seems the way to go.
posted by mr. digits at 6:05 AM on July 20, 2014 [1 favorite]
Shrugs call for the simplest expression -- if we're talking Epictetus, "Bear and forbear" seems the way to go.
posted by mr. digits at 6:05 AM on July 20, 2014 [1 favorite]
:(
posted by clvrmnky at 6:27 AM on July 20, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by clvrmnky at 6:27 AM on July 20, 2014 [1 favorite]
"What Cyclopses lack in depth perception, they make up for in being really tall and crying a lot." The Enchiridion.
posted by signal at 7:17 AM on July 20, 2014 [2 favorites]
posted by signal at 7:17 AM on July 20, 2014 [2 favorites]
¯\_(ツ)¯\_...
I thought it was Meatwad doing his dance...
posted by Fuzzypumper at 7:27 AM on July 20, 2014 [10 favorites]
I thought it was Meatwad doing his dance...
posted by Fuzzypumper at 7:27 AM on July 20, 2014 [10 favorites]
Gallic shrug
I was about to mention this! I endorse the incorporation of the gallic shrug into all aspects of life as it instantly encapsulates a perfect blend of not-my-problem and what-can-you-do
posted by The Whelk at 7:32 AM on July 20, 2014
I was about to mention this! I endorse the incorporation of the gallic shrug into all aspects of life as it instantly encapsulates a perfect blend of not-my-problem and what-can-you-do
posted by The Whelk at 7:32 AM on July 20, 2014
"Nothing left to do but smile, smile, smile"
posted by hal9k at 7:43 AM on July 20, 2014 [2 favorites]
posted by hal9k at 7:43 AM on July 20, 2014 [2 favorites]
It's more than a shrug!
It's a) a shrug, b) throwing hands up in exasperation, c) a confused dog head tilt, and d) a smile. ALL OF THESE ELEMENTS MUST BE PRESENT.
A lot of these examples are arms-down straight-necked mush-faced shrugs. That's a totally different thing.
The best summation of ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ I can come up with is, "Yep, that happened," like the thing that prompted it is so utterly cuckoo bananas that the only thing to do is pause and move on.
Gallic shrug
No, that's not it. That's the Cosby Show swallow-your-masculine-pride-and-let-Sondra-open-the-pickle-jar gesture. There's probably a gif of that somewhere. (If not: Season 3, episode 3, have at it.) Also, the things-have-gotten-out-of-hand "I'm out." I think these both might be preceded by that I-brush-my-hands-of-this gesture, but the message is the same as the Gallic shrug: "You're on your own."
posted by Sys Rq at 8:36 AM on July 20, 2014 [2 favorites]
It's a) a shrug, b) throwing hands up in exasperation, c) a confused dog head tilt, and d) a smile. ALL OF THESE ELEMENTS MUST BE PRESENT.
A lot of these examples are arms-down straight-necked mush-faced shrugs. That's a totally different thing.
The best summation of ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ I can come up with is, "Yep, that happened," like the thing that prompted it is so utterly cuckoo bananas that the only thing to do is pause and move on.
Gallic shrug
No, that's not it. That's the Cosby Show swallow-your-masculine-pride-and-let-Sondra-open-the-pickle-jar gesture. There's probably a gif of that somewhere. (If not: Season 3, episode 3, have at it.) Also, the things-have-gotten-out-of-hand "I'm out." I think these both might be preceded by that I-brush-my-hands-of-this gesture, but the message is the same as the Gallic shrug: "You're on your own."
posted by Sys Rq at 8:36 AM on July 20, 2014 [2 favorites]
Thinkgeek or someone really needs to sell a little balance scale with the shruggo hands as the scales.
posted by cortex at 8:41 AM on July 20, 2014 [3 favorites]
posted by cortex at 8:41 AM on July 20, 2014 [3 favorites]
My friend is the number one google image search result for the word "shrug" (and has been #1 - #3 or so for YEARS) and that is all I have to say about the matter.
posted by misskaz at 8:44 AM on July 20, 2014 [4 favorites]
posted by misskaz at 8:44 AM on July 20, 2014 [4 favorites]
I tried doing a search of this on metafilter to see how often we've used it previously, but the result strips out the \ and the parentheses so it looks like this: ¯_ツ_/¯.
I feel a bit sad about that, but I'm guessing if we asked this character how he felt about being hard to find, he'd just shrug his shoulders.
I sort of feel like this is a guy, but I could be wrong about that.
posted by SpacemanStix at 9:15 AM on July 20, 2014
I feel a bit sad about that, but I'm guessing if we asked this character how he felt about being hard to find, he'd just shrug his shoulders.
I sort of feel like this is a guy, but I could be wrong about that.
posted by SpacemanStix at 9:15 AM on July 20, 2014
Thinkgeek or someone really needs to sell a little balance scale with the shruggo hands as the scales.
Instead of the scales of justice, the scales of meh.
posted by SpacemanStix at 9:17 AM on July 20, 2014
Instead of the scales of justice, the scales of meh.
posted by SpacemanStix at 9:17 AM on July 20, 2014
Scales of "Just, Eh"s
posted by cortex at 9:23 AM on July 20, 2014 [4 favorites]
posted by cortex at 9:23 AM on July 20, 2014 [4 favorites]
┻¯\_(ツ)_/¯┻
posted by SpacemanStix at 9:32 AM on July 20, 2014 [4 favorites]
posted by SpacemanStix at 9:32 AM on July 20, 2014 [4 favorites]
¯\_(ツ)_/¯ is fundamentally connected to the experience of being online, in part because it cannot be spoken, only acted or typed.So...everywhere but radio or telephone then?
posted by nobody at 9:48 AM on July 20, 2014
Nobody's mentioned the shrug is enabled by Unicode. There, I mentioned it.
posted by Jesse the K at 10:21 AM on July 20, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by Jesse the K at 10:21 AM on July 20, 2014 [1 favorite]
ALL HAIL UNICODE
posted by butterstick at 10:43 AM on July 20, 2014
posted by butterstick at 10:43 AM on July 20, 2014
Rusty Foster did publish the manifesto mentioned in the article: WHAT DOES ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ MEAN TO ME?
posted by creade at 11:29 AM on July 20, 2014
posted by creade at 11:29 AM on July 20, 2014
I do not fully understand this, but here it is anyway. I think it's relevant.
posted by dhartung at 12:22 PM on July 20, 2014
posted by dhartung at 12:22 PM on July 20, 2014
┻━┻ ︵ヽ(`Д´)ﾉ︵ ┻━┻
posted by TerryGotham at 1:31 PM on July 20, 2014 [2 favorites]
posted by TerryGotham at 1:31 PM on July 20, 2014 [2 favorites]
ヽ༼ຈل͜ຈ༽ﾉ
posted by CarolynG at 1:34 PM on July 20, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by CarolynG at 1:34 PM on July 20, 2014 [1 favorite]
ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ is part of mathowie's name on Twitter, and I have been wondering for weeks WTF it is.
posted by jeoc at 1:48 PM on July 20, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by jeoc at 1:48 PM on July 20, 2014 [1 favorite]
My brain always parses is as a pair of arms arm-wrestling, so this is a very confusing time on the internet for me.
posted by COBRA! at 3:11 PM on July 20, 2014
posted by COBRA! at 3:11 PM on July 20, 2014
I spent the last five minutes staring at the word 'is', and for the life of me, I couldn't see the arm-wrestling. Then I realized that you meant ¯\_(ツ)_/¯. It really does look like a pair of arms wrestling.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
posted by supermassive at 3:28 PM on July 20, 2014 [1 favorite]
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
posted by supermassive at 3:28 PM on July 20, 2014 [1 favorite]
Nihilism?
We believe in NOTHING! ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
We are coming to cut off your JOHNSON! ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ
posted by arto at 3:53 PM on July 20, 2014
We believe in NOTHING! ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
We are coming to cut off your JOHNSON! ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ
posted by arto at 3:53 PM on July 20, 2014
> Then I realized that you meant ¯\_(ツ)_/¯. It really does look like a pair of arms wrestling.
__(`Д´)_/ \_(°□°)__
posted by ardgedee at 3:56 PM on July 20, 2014 [7 favorites]
__(`Д´)_/ \_(°□°)__
posted by ardgedee at 3:56 PM on July 20, 2014 [7 favorites]
Take away the arms, and (ツ) looks like Homestar Runner.
Oh, excellent. I'll hate seeing this thing all the time so much less if I can shake my fist and grumble, "Homestar doesn't have arms!" in my best get-offa-my-lawn-whippersnapers voice.
posted by straight at 7:34 PM on July 20, 2014
Oh, excellent. I'll hate seeing this thing all the time so much less if I can shake my fist and grumble, "Homestar doesn't have arms!" in my best get-offa-my-lawn-whippersnapers voice.
posted by straight at 7:34 PM on July 20, 2014
If your hands are on the same line of text as your head, you're not doing a Gallic shrug.
posted by Joakim Ziegler at 12:33 AM on July 21, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by Joakim Ziegler at 12:33 AM on July 21, 2014 [1 favorite]
¯̢̛̠̹̻̮̱̙͚́ͬͧ̂̐̇̆ͅ\̸̧̝ͤ͋̅̈͒̇͐͘_̣̥̝̣͎̱̞̞̔ͯ̑͊̊̀̓͒(̨͈͔̗́͆ͫ̾͡ツ̮̺̻̫͚͓̟̥̈̍͘͝͞)̟̦̟ͥ̃͡_̀̅ͪ͡҉͈̗/̑͏̯͉̫̲͠ͅ¯̻̳̻͓̯ͥ͆ͯ̏̔ ̨͍̠͚̮͐͆̄̄͛̔̆̕
posted by logicpunk at 1:32 AM on July 21, 2014 [2 favorites]
posted by logicpunk at 1:32 AM on July 21, 2014 [2 favorites]
Since I read Japanese, all I can see is a guy with a "tsu" for a face.
posted by armage at 1:40 AM on July 21, 2014 [3 favorites]
posted by armage at 1:40 AM on July 21, 2014 [3 favorites]
Since I read Japanese, all I can see is a guy with a "tsu" for a face.
You have uncovered the true meaning -- "Here's looking at tsu, kid."
posted by GenjiandProust at 4:55 AM on July 21, 2014 [6 favorites]
You have uncovered the true meaning -- "Here's looking at tsu, kid."
posted by GenjiandProust at 4:55 AM on July 21, 2014 [6 favorites]
jeoc: "ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ is part of mathowie's name on Twitter, and I have been wondering for weeks WTF it is."
Mathowie has been using ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ a lot on Twitter.
posted by Chrysostom at 9:25 AM on July 25, 2014 [1 favorite]
Mathowie has been using ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ a lot on Twitter.
posted by Chrysostom at 9:25 AM on July 25, 2014 [1 favorite]
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