🍤 Fried Shrimp Tempura

🍤

🍤 Meaning and usage

The primary meaning of the emoji 🍤 is shrimp or prawns . But in digital communication, it's used in a variety of contexts:

🍤 Food and cooking: The most direct meaning.

Example: "Seafood pasta for dinner tonight 🍤"
Example: "Who wants to go to a shrimp restaurant? 🍤"

🍤 Symbol of seafood and healthy eating: Shrimp is associated with healthy food rich in protein.

Example: "Today is a healthy eating day: salad and grilled shrimp 🍤"

🍤 Asian cuisine: Especially often used in the context of Japanese, Chinese, Thai or Vietnamese cuisine (tempura, wok, soups).

Example: "I ordered pho soup with shrimp 🍤"

🍤 Summer mood, vacation and picnic: Grilled shrimp is a popular dish for picnics and beach holidays.

Example: "I dream of a vacation by the sea... seafood, sun, beach 🍤🍹"

🍤 Slang and idioms (mostly found on the English-speaking internet):

"Shrimp" as a derogatory term to describe a weak or small person.
"Shrimping" is a rare slang term with obscene connotations, so it is used sparingly and with caution in everyday conversation.

How emoji came to be 🍤

The history of this emoji is closely related to the general history of emojis:

Japanese Origin: Like all early emoji, 🍤 was created in Japan in the late 1990s. Shrimp is an extremely popular and common ingredient in Japanese cuisine (sushi, sashimi, tempura), so its inclusion in the emoji set was entirely logical.
Unicode Unification: The Shrimp emoji was approved by the Unicode Consortium as part of the Unicode 6.0 standard in 2010. Since then, it has appeared on all major platforms and devices.
Design: Initially, the design was very simple and schematic. Over time, major companies (Apple, Google, Samsung, and others) developed their own, more detailed and colorful versions of emoji. For example, on iOS, the shrimp is pink with orange accents and a curved tail, making it easily recognizable.

Interesting facts about 🍤

Not just a shrimp: This emoji may be called differently depending on the region. In the UK and Australia, for example, large shrimp are often called prawns . Therefore, for many users, 🍤 actually means prawn, not shrimp (even though biologically they are slightly different species of crustacean).
Riddle Emoji: Outside of the food context, the 🍤 can be used in riddles or puzzles thanks to its unique shape.
Social Media Popularity: This emoji is very popular on Instagram and Pinterest for food, healthy eating, and recipe posts, especially in Asian countries.
Cultural symbol: In some cultures, the shrimp symbolizes good luck, prosperity, and happiness due to its ability to swim forward, associating it with progress.
"Crooked" appearance: Users sometimes joke that the 🍤 emoji looks a little odd on some platforms—either curled up or dried out. This has become part of its charm.

🍤 Emojis carry cultural codes (especially Asian ones), symbolize summer and relaxation, and are an integral part of the visual language of cooking in the digital age.