30 variants · since 2012

Lenny face

( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) is a knowing look with a suggestive edge — the text version of raising an eyebrow. It is almost never literal: the point is that both sides understand what is being implied without anyone writing it down.

Born on the Finnish imageboard Ylilauta around 2012, carried worldwide by Reddit two years later. Nobody knows who Lenny was.

How it is built
( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
01 — The original

The original

The one everybody means.

02 — Different eyes

Different eyes

Swap the ͡° for another character and the mood changes.

03 — Doing something

Doing something

Arms, weapons and gestures bolted onto the same face.

04 — Nested and stacked

Nested and stacked

The joke where the face contains itself.

05 — Anatomy

Which character does what

The face is six characters, and two of them are combining marks — they sit on top of the character before them rather than next to it. That is why it cannot be typed on a keyboard and why it sometimes falls apart.

( Left parenthesisU+28
͡ Combining inverted breve — the eyebrowU+361
° Degree sign — the eyeU+B0
͜ Combining double breve below — the smirkU+35C
ʖ Latin letter inverted glottal stop — the mouthU+296
) Right parenthesisU+29

Want the whole family of text faces instead of this one? They are on kaomoji — happy, sad, angry, shrugging and the rest.

06 — FAQ

Lenny face — questions people ask

What does ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) mean?
A knowing look with a suggestive edge — the text equivalent of raising an eyebrow at something. It is rarely literal; the point is that both sides know what is being implied without anyone writing it down.
Where did the Lenny face come from?
It appeared on the Finnish imageboard Ylilauta around 2012, spread through Reddit in 2014 and became shorthand for innuendo everywhere else. Nobody knows who Lenny was.
How do I type it without copying?
You realistically cannot — it uses combining characters that sit on top of others and are not on any keyboard. Everyone copies it. That is why it exists in this form.
Why does it look broken in some apps?
The eyebrows are combining marks: they attach to the character before them. Apps that strip combining marks or use a font without them leave the pieces scattered, which is why you sometimes see ( °ʖ°).
Is it the same as a kaomoji?
Technically yes — a face made of text, read straight on. But the Lenny face is Western in origin and means something specific, while Japanese kaomoji cover the full range of emotions.