The hang loose emoji is everywhere thanks to the existential dread that is 2018

It’s on Twitter, in company meetings, and in group chats with disparate groups of friends. Recently, I’ve started to notice the hang loose hand symbol, and its emoji — also known as the “call me hand” emoji, better recognized as the shaka sign — all over my digital and physical worlds. 

In my everyday, definitely-not-beach-adjacent interactions, the symbol for “surf’s up” has started to accompany messages about mundane planning, jokes, and more. In these cases, it mostly communicates an ironic stoner “heck yes,” or, an impish “fuck it.” 

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