To Gen Z, that classic smiley face emoji isn’t all sunshine — it’s more of a smug, side-eye smirk that can come off as passive-aggressive in texts like above.

A Canadian farmer owes $82,000 for breach of contract after using a “thumbs-up” emoji in a text. According to court documents from the King’s Bench for Saskatchewan in March 2021, grain ...

The judge pointed to a Dictionary.com definition of the thumbs-up emoji, which said it is used to express assent, approval or encouragement in digital communications.