Eggplant Emoji
U+1F346:eggplant:About Eggplant š
Eggplant () is part of the Food & Drink group in Unicode. Added in Unicode E0.6. Type on GitHub and Slack to use it. Click copy above to grab it, paste it anywhere.
Works in iMessage, WhatsApp, Discord, Slack, Instagram, Twitter, Gmail, and every app that supports Unicode.
Meaning varies across cultures, see cultural notes below.
Scroll down for the full story: meaning, trends, combos, and more.
How it looks
What does it mean?
A dark purple eggplant with a green stem. Unicode named it . The internet named it something else entirely.
š is a penis. Let's not dance around it. The phallic shape made this association inevitable from launch, and it happened fast. By 2011, the journal American Speech documented the meaning on Twitter. By 2015, the American Dialect Society voted it "Most Notable Emoji" of the year. Instagram banned the š hashtag because it was "consistently associated" with nudity. In 2019, Facebook and Instagram banned š alongside sexual statements. A Newsweek survey found 91% of employees consider it the most inappropriate emoji for workplace communication.
The eggplant is the purest example of how users, not designers, determine emoji meaning. Unicode created a vegetable. The internet made it the most recognizable sexual symbol in digital communication. No amount of institutional intention can override what millions of people collectively decide a symbol means.
And it's not just slang. š has appeared in actual court cases as evidence of sexual intent. In State v. Farley, both victim and detective testified that š meant penis. A Maclean's legal analysis asks: 'When does an eggplant equal harassment?' The answer, increasingly, is: when a court says so.
The vegetable meaning hasn't been erased. In Italy, Japan, India, and Turkey, where eggplant is a culinary staple, people still use š to mean actual food. But in Western digital culture, especially the US and Canada, the sexual meaning is so dominant that using š about your dinner requires an explicit disclaimer.
š is the most sexually charged emoji in Unicode, and its social media life reflects that.
On dating apps (Tinder, Bumble, Hinge), it's the primary playground. š in a bio or early message is a signal of sexual intent that requires zero interpretation. Plenty of Fish created a "No Dick Pic" badge specifically because the behavior š represents (unsolicited nudes) was the most offensive dating behavior to one-third of their users.
On Instagram, the š hashtag remains banned from search. You literally cannot search #š because the platform decided the content it attracted was too consistently sexual. The #FreeTheEggplant campaign (modeled on #FreeTheNipple) protested the ban. It didn't work.
In DMs, š ranges from flirty innuendo to explicit proposition depending on context. Between partners who have an established sexual dynamic, it's playful shorthand. From a stranger or early match, it's often unwelcome. The line between flirting and harassment runs straight through this emoji.
Among friends, š is the joke that writes itself. "Nice eggplant recipe š" about actual food is always funny because the double meaning is inescapable. The tension between what you meant and what everyone reads is the entire comedy.
In sex education content, š serves as universally understood shorthand. Parenting guides like Bark and Gabb warn parents about the meaning as part of digital literacy.
A penis. The phallic shape made this association inevitable. The journal American Speech documented the meaning in 2011, one year after launch. The American Dialect Society voted it 'Most Notable Emoji' in 2015. Instagram banned the hashtag. 91% of employees consider it inappropriate for work. It has been used as evidence in court.
The most explicitly sexual emoji combination: š represents a penis and š represents buttocks. Together they reference sexual intercourse. This pairing is so universally understood that it requires zero explanation and has been the subject of platform content moderation policies.
What people actually mean when they send š
The Fruit Emoji Family
What it means from...
If your crush sends you š, they are not talking about vegetables. Full stop. This is one of the most sexually direct emojis anyone can send, and from a crush it means they're expressing physical attraction and/or testing whether you're open to sexual conversation. How you respond determines the trajectory: match the energy if you're into it, redirect if you're not. There's no ambiguous reading here. A crush who sends š has made their interest explicit. The question is whether you want to reciprocate.
The exception is if they literally send it in a cooking conversation with a recipe attached. But even then, they probably chose to share eggplant parmesan specifically because they know what you'll think.
Between partners, š is playful sexual shorthand. 'Tonight? š' from your boyfriend or girlfriend is a proposition wrapped in a vegetable. It's one of the most common sexting emojis between couples because it communicates desire without requiring a paragraph. Some couples use šš as their go-to 'let's have sex' signal. Others send š as a compliment about their partner's body. In established relationships, the emoji loses its edginess and becomes part of the intimate vocabulary. 'Missing you š' from your partner means they miss ALL of you.
Among friends, š is 100% comedy. It's the reaction when someone says anything remotely innuendo-adjacent. 'I love a thick...' pause '...milkshake š.' It's the emoji friends spam in group chats when someone walks into an accidental double entendre. Close friends might roast each other with š references ('that's what she said š'). Between friends, the sexual meaning is the joke. Nobody is actually propositioning anyone.
From family, š means actual eggplant. Your mom is sending you a grocery list or a recipe. Your grandmother found an eggplant casserole on Facebook. Your dad grew eggplants in the garden. Family members of a certain generation genuinely don't know the sexual meaning, and that generational gap is the source of approximately 10,000 Reddit posts under r/oldpeoplefacebook. If your SIBLING sends š, they're either doing it to make you uncomfortable (sibling mission accomplished) or they also mean food. Context tells you which instantly.
Do not use š at work. Period. 91% of employees consider it the most inappropriate emoji for professional communication. Even if you're genuinely discussing the lunch menu, the sexual connotation is too strong. š in a workplace Slack message can constitute evidence in a harassment case. Just type the word 'eggplant.' Your HR department will thank you.
From a stranger, š is almost always sexual and almost always unwelcome. On dating apps, an unsolicited š is widely considered the emoji equivalent of an unsolicited dick pic. Plenty of Fish created an anti-eggplant badge for profiles specifically to combat this behavior. If a stranger sends you š without any prior flirty conversation, that's a red flag about their communication style.
The worst response is nervous ambiguity. If someone sends š and you don't know how to respond, decide what you want and respond clearly. Silence after š is its own message.
Flirty or friendly?
š is never 'friendly' in the way that š¼ or š¦ is friendly. It's either sexual (the dominant reading) or about actual food (the minority reading). There is no middle ground where š means 'I think you're nice.' It's either 'I want to have sex with you' or 'I'm making eggplant parmesan.' The sexual reading is the default. The food reading is the exception that proves the rule.
- ā¢Standalone š = sexual, full stop
- ā¢šš together = explicitly sexual, no ambiguity
- ā¢šš³ in a recipe context = might actually be about cooking (but they chose this vegetable on purpose)
- ā¢šš¦ = ejaculation reference, as explicit as emoji gets
- ā¢šš« = boundary setting, 'not interested in that kind of conversation'
- ā¢Multiple ššš = either a joke about excess or very forward
If a guy sends you š, he is expressing sexual interest. This is not ambiguous. The only exception is if he's literally sharing a recipe, and even then, he chose this specific vegetable knowing what you'd think. A guy who sends š early in conversation is being very forward. How you respond depends entirely on whether you welcome that forwardness.
If a girl sends you š, she's either being sexually suggestive (yes, women use it too), making a joke about the double meaning, or ā less commonly ā actually talking about food. Context tells you which. In a flirty conversation, it's a clear escalation. In a food conversation, it's dinner plans.
Between partners, š is playful sexual shorthand. 'Tonight? š' is a proposition. 'Missing you š' means they miss all of you. Some couples use šš as their go-to 'let's have sex' signal. In established relationships, it's intimate vocabulary, not shocking.
They mean actual eggplant. They're sharing a recipe, making a grocery list, or telling you about their garden. The generational gap is real: many parents genuinely don't know the sexual meaning. Don't ruin it for them.
Sender intent ā receiver reading: where š actually lands
Emoji combos
Origin story
The eggplant emoji's journey from vegetable to the internet's most famous phallic symbol happened faster than any emoji designer could have predicted.
The fruit (yes, botanically it's a berry) is called 'aubergine' in British English, 'eggplant' in American English, 'melanzana' in Italian, and 'nasu' (čå) in Japanese. The American name comes from 18th-century European varieties that were small, white, and egg-shaped. When Unicode approved it in 2010, they used the British name . Nobody at the Unicode Consortium was thinking about what the purple American variety's shape might suggest. The encoding came through L2/09-026r, Markus Scherer, Mark Davis, Kat Momoi and Darick Tong's January 2009 proposal that batched roughly 600 Japanese-carrier glyphs into Unicode 6.0. AUBERGINE was on the food-and-drink list, sitting between FRENCH FRIES and POULTRY LEG with no controversy attached. The committee was concerned with character coverage, not phallic geometry.
By 2011, the journal American Speech documented the penis meaning on Twitter. The emoji was one year old. By 2015, the American Dialect Society voted it 'Most Notable Emoji,' a recognition usually reserved for actual words. Instagram banned the hashtag. The #FreeTheEggplant campaign fought back. In 2019, Facebook and Instagram banned the emoji alongside sexual text.
In Japan, the eggplant carries no sexual meaning at all. It's considered lucky to dream of Mount Fuji, a hawk, and an eggplant on New Year's night. The Japanese word 'nasu' is a homonym for 'achieving something great.' Japan included the emoji because eggplant is culturally significant. America turned it into a dick.
š has its own Wikipedia article. It has appeared in court as evidence of sexual intent. It has been the subject of academic papers, content moderation policies, and dating app features. A vegetable emoji that required a legal framework. That's š.
Design history
- 2009Proposed for Unicode 6.0 in L2/09-026r by Scherer, Davis, Momoi, Tong (Google) and Edberg, Kida (Apple)ā
- 2010Approved in Unicode 6.0 as U+1F346 AUBERGINEā
- 2011Journal American Speech documents penis meaning on Twitter
- 2015American Dialect Society votes it 'Most Notable Emoji'; Instagram bans #š hashtag
- 2016Apple iOS 10.2 (Dec 12, 2016) ships a redesigned eggplant alongside the Unicode 9.0 emoji refreshā
- 2019Facebook/Instagram ban š alongside sexual statements
- 2022Adobe Emoji Trend Report names š the emoji to 'steer clear of' in flirty messagesā
- 2024Used as evidence in State v. Farley sexual abuse case
Around the world
The eggplant emoji's meaning splits dramatically along cultural lines.
In the United States and Canada, š is a penis, full stop. The sexual meaning is so dominant that using it about actual food requires a disclaimer. 91% of American employees consider it inappropriate for work. The phallic association is cultural consensus.
In Japan, eggplant carries zero sexual connotation. It's a lucky symbol: dreaming of Mount Fuji, a hawk, and an eggplant on New Year's night is considered the best possible omen. 'Nasu' (čå) is a homonym for 'achieving great things.' Japan put the emoji in Unicode because eggplant matters culturally. Not sexually.
In Italy, eggplant is melanzana, and it's a culinary staple. Eggplant parmesan (parmigiana di melanzane) is a national dish. Italian speakers use š about food more than Americans do, though the global sexual meaning is creeping in through English-language internet culture.
In India and Turkey, where eggplant (baingan/patlican) is eaten daily across dozens of regional recipes, the emoji retains its food meaning more strongly. But younger, English-internet-connected users are increasingly aware of the double meaning.
In the UK, it's called 'aubergine,' which sounds classier and slightly less phallic than 'eggplant.' The sexual meaning exists but feels one step removed from the American directness.
The gap between how a Japanese grandmother and an American college student read š is probably the largest interpretation gap of any emoji in Unicode.
Instagram removed the š hashtag from search because it was 'consistently associated' with content violating community standards (nudity). The #FreeTheEggplant campaign protested but failed. You still can't search #š on Instagram.
Yes. In State v. Farley (2024), both victim and detective testified that š meant penis. The emoji was treated as evidence of sexual intent. Courts increasingly recognize emoji as carrying the same evidentiary weight as words.
No. In Japan, eggplant is a lucky symbol (dreaming of one on New Year's means achievement). In Italy, India, and Turkey, it's primarily a food emoji. The sexual meaning is strongest in the US, Canada, and English-speaking internet culture. The interpretation gap between a Japanese grandmother and an American college student is enormous.
Where š actually grows: 60 million tonnes a year, almost all from one country
Popularity ranking
Search interest
Often confused with
š is š's innuendo partner: butt to š's penis. Together šš form the most explicit emoji combination. Both have eclipsed their food meanings. They're paired so often that sending one implies the other. š edges out š in search volume because it plays both the body-positive and sexual lanes.
š is š's innuendo partner: butt to š's penis. Together šš form the most explicit emoji combination. Both have eclipsed their food meanings. They're paired so often that sending one implies the other. š edges out š in search volume because it plays both the body-positive and sexual lanes.
Phallic-coded foods, mapped: š owns the top-right corner alone
Do's and don'ts
- āUse in established flirty/sexual dynamics where both parties understand and welcome it
- āUse for humor about the double meaning with close friends who share your sense of humor
- āUse in sex education content as universally understood shorthand
- āPair with š« to set boundaries ('no eggplant' = not interested in that kind of conversation)
- āNever use at work. Ever. 91% inappropriate rating. Potential harassment evidence in court.
- āDon't send unsolicited to someone you haven't established a flirty dynamic with ā it's the emoji equivalent of an unsolicited dick pic
- āDon't use in family group chats unless you want your grandmother to ask questions
- āDon't assume the recipient will find it funny. What's hilarious between friends is harassment between strangers.
- āDon't pair it with š¦ or š unless you're in a fully established sexual conversation
Absolutely not. 91% of employees consider it the most inappropriate emoji for professional communication. It has been used as evidence in harassment cases. Even discussing actual eggplant parmesan, the sexual connotation is too strong. Type the word. Your HR department will thank you.
On dating apps, an unsolicited š is widely considered the textual equivalent of an unsolicited dick pic. Plenty of Fish created an anti-eggplant badge specifically to combat this behavior. The emoji represents the same intent as the image, just less graphically.
Caption ideas
Aesthetic sets
Type it as text
Fun facts
- ā¢The American Dialect Society voted š 'Most Notable Emoji' of 2015. A vegetable emoji won a vocabulary award typically reserved for words like 'truthiness' and 'occupy.'
- ā¢Instagram banned the š hashtag from search. The #FreeTheEggplant campaign (modeled on #FreeTheNipple) protested. Instagram didn't budge.
- ā¢The penis meaning was documented in 2011 by the journal American Speech. The emoji was one year old. Academics were already writing about it.
- ā¢Unicode named it (British English). The American name 'eggplant' comes from 18th-century European varieties that were small, white, and egg-shaped. The modern purple variety's shape drove the cultural meaning.
- ā¢In Japan, dreaming of an eggplant on New Year's night is one of the luckiest omens. The word 'nasu' means both 'eggplant' and 'achieving great things.'
- ā¢Plenty of Fish created a 'No Dick Pic' badge for user profiles after finding unsolicited nudes were the most offensive behavior to one-third of users. The š emoji became shorthand for the behavior they were trying to prevent.
- ā¢š has been used as evidence in court. In sexual abuse cases, prosecutors and witnesses have testified about what the eggplant emoji means. It carries the same legal weight as words.
- ā¢China grew 39.2 million tonnes of eggplant in 2023, about 64% of world production. The countries that actually farm š (China, India, Egypt, Turkey, Indonesia) are also the countries where the emoji is still primarily about food. The internet meme is a Western dialect.
- ā¢Adobe's 2022 U.S. Emoji Trend Report found 72% of respondents send emoji while flirting, but specifically warned senders to 'steer clear of the eggplant.' A pro-emoji study calling out a single emoji by name is rare. š earned that warning.
- ā¢The Unicode origin document is L2/09-026r, a January 2009 proposal by Markus Scherer, Mark Davis, Kat Momoi, Darick Tong (Google) and Peter Edberg, Yasuo Kida (Apple). AUBERGINE is in the food-and-drink list between FRENCH FRIES and POULTRY LEG. The committee minutes contain zero discussion of geometry.
Common misinterpretations
- ā¢The generational gap is real. Parents and grandparents may send š about actual eggplant recipes with zero awareness of the sexual meaning. Before reacting with horror, consider that your mom might just be excited about her baingan bharta.
- ā¢In Japan, India, Italy, and Turkey, š is still primarily a food emoji. If you're texting someone from these cultures, the sexual reading may not apply. Cultural context matters.
- ā¢Sending š 'as a joke' to someone who didn't ask for it is still unwelcome regardless of your intent. The humor defense doesn't hold up when the recipient didn't consent to the conversation.
- ā¢On dating apps, an unsolicited š in an opening message is widely considered the textual equivalent of a dick pic. Plenty of Fish created a 'No Eggplant' badge specifically to combat this.
In pop culture
- ā¢Instagram's #š ban (2015) ā Instagram blocked the eggplant hashtag from search because users were flooding it with nudity. The #FreeTheEggplant campaign protested, modeled on #FreeTheNipple. One of the first times a social platform censored an emoji's associated hashtag.
- ā¢American Dialect Society award (2015) ā The society that normally honors words like 'truthiness' voted š 'Most Notable Emoji,' officially recognizing a vegetable's phallic double meaning in a formal linguistic context.
- ā¢Facebook/Instagram sexual use ban (2019) ā Both platforms banned š and š alongside sexual statements. Posts could be removed if these emojis appeared alongside sexual solicitation. International news coverage ensued. People joked about whether eggplant parmesan recipes were now violations.
- ā¢Plenty of Fish 'No Dick Pic' badge (2019) ā The dating app created an anti-eggplant badge users could add to their profiles, directly connecting the emoji to the unsolicited-nudes problem it symbolizes.
- ā¢State v. Farley (2024) ā A court case where š was used as evidence of sexual intent. Both victim and detective testified that the eggplant emoji meant penis. Emoji as legal evidence is now established precedent.
- ā¢Cards Against Humanity ā š appears on at least one CAH card. When your emoji makes it into a game specifically designed around inappropriate humor, your cultural status is secure.
Trivia
For developers
- ā¢Eggplant is , named in Unicode (British English). Part of the food & drink block in Unicode 6.0 (2010).
- ā¢Shortcodes: on Slack/Discord/GitHub. Consider content moderation implications if rendering user-generated shortcodes.
- ā¢For content moderation: š combined with š, š¦, š, or sexual text should be flagged. Instagram's approach of banning the hashtag entirely is the nuclear option; contextual detection is more nuanced.
- ā¢In accessibility contexts, screen readers announce this as 'eggplant' or 'aubergine,' which is perfectly innocent. The sexual meaning is entirely cultural, not technical.
Approved in Unicode 6.0 in 2010 under the British name (codepoint ). The sexual meaning was documented by 2011. By 2015, it had won a linguistics award, been banned from Instagram search, and become the subject of academic papers.
See the full Emoji Developer Tools guide for regex patterns, encoding helpers, and more.
Be honest: what does š mean to you?
Select all that apply
- Eggplant emoji (Wikipedia) (wikipedia.org)
- Eggplant Emoji (Emojipedia) (emojipedia.org)
- Eggplant emoji Meaning (Dictionary.com) (dictionary.com)
- Eggplant Emoji (Know Your Meme) (knowyourmeme.com)
- State v. Farley - Eggplant as Evidence (blog.ericgoldman.org)
- When Does an Eggplant Equal Harassment? (macleans.ca)
- Emoji as Court Evidence (robsoncrim.com)
- POF No Dick Pic Badge (campaignlive.com)
- Facebook/Instagram Ban Sexual Emoji Use (cbsnews.com)
- Japanese Food Emoji (japanesefoodguide.com)
- Parent's Guide to Sexting Emojis (gabb.com)
- Sexting Emojis (Bark) (bark.us)
- Emoji Frequency (unicode.org)
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