Latest news with #smileyface
Daily Mail
01-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
I couldn't figure out why I had a small pink smiley face in my washing machine... but there's a simple answer
A baffled father who discovered a mysterious, tiny pink smiley face lurking in his washing machine has finally uncovered the surprisingly simple truth behind the sudsy find. The Reddit user, strawberrybalsamic, was left dumbfounded this week after spotting a miniature, bright pink smiley face staring up at him from inside the washing machine - its seemingly unexplainable origin leaving him completely puzzled. In search of answers, he turned to Reddit's popular 'What Is This Thing' forum, hoping someone could solve the bizarre discovery. 'Found in my washing machine,' the father captioned the post, which was shared on Wednesday. 'Small, pink face?' he added. 'Doesn't seem to dissolve, has no odor.' Alongside his post, the father shared two photos of the grinning, unexpected laundry intruder - one showing its face head-on, and another flipped upside down to reveal a lighter pink underside. Rather than providing clarity, the mystery only deepened when he shared additional details about the strange discovery just a short time later. 'It is a little powdery but I found it at the end of a washer cycle so I don't think it dissolves,' the father wrote. 'One side has the smiley face or maybe an arrow with two dots?' he added. 'The other side seems broken off.' 'Googling only comes up with ecstasy, which seems unlikely.' The post racked up more than 6,000 impressions, sparking a flood of theories from curious online sleuths. One determined user wrote: 'It looks like the top of a croc charm'. 'It might be a kids mini eraser,' said another. 'My kids get them a lot in gift bags for birthdays or prize rewards at school. That wouldn't break down in the wash, but could become discolored.' Another user chimed in confidently: 'IT'S A MAGNET! I have the same ones!!' 'It would be a plastic "mixer" to put in slime,' suggested a fourth user. 'You give no indication of size, but it looks like a rubber stamp, broken off the handle,' another user theorized. 'Teachers use those to mark papers.' In response, the father shared a third photo of the powdery object, lying flat on his hand and smiling directly at the lens. At last, the secret behind the laundry room enigma was laid bare for good - and one user guessed correctly. The strange smiley face turned out to be the tip of a small toy commonly used by kids - a mini stamper. 'Do you have any kids?' the user who cracked the case asked the father. 'This looks like the rubber part from a cheap stamp, like the one at the end of the marker.' In response, the father wrote: 'I do! We don't have any markers like that, but maybe they picked it up somewhere.' What really sealed the deal was the photo the user shared after the father's reply - a screenshot of a Lakeshore brand set of eight mini stampers, featuring one adorned with the exact same pink smiley face. These stampers are colorful, handheld tools that imprint fun designs like paw prints, hearts, stars - and of course, smiley faces - onto paper. Each one fits comfortably in the palm and is typically made of lightweight plastic, with a foam or rubber stamp at the base - explaining why the pink appeared more discolored on one side. 'That is practically identical, so I think it's solved!' the father replied to the shared photo. Finally, he updated the thread with a triumphant 'Solved!' - officially bringing the bizarre case of the pink smiley face to a satisfying close. Designed for arts and crafts, the specific pink mini stamper comes in a set of eight, featuring cheerful simple images perfect for decorating cards, notebooks or school projects. As two users correctly suggested, the stampers are also commonly used by teachers when grading children's work, adding a cheerful, colorful image as a token of encouragement. Somehow, the pink smiley face stamper found its way into the washing machine - catching an unsuspecting father totally off guard - before revealing itself as nothing other than a jolly, unexpected surprise.
Forbes
29-05-2025
- Climate
- Forbes
When And Where To See A Spectacular ‘Smiley Face' In The Sky Tonight
A delicate crescent moon will tonight shine below two bright stars to create the illusion of a 'smiley face.' Although the celestial sight will be a beautiful sight — and an easy one to find in the night sky — the observing window is short. It's an illusion created in the night sky when a crescent moon passes beneath two close stars. In this case, it's a 12%-lit waxing crescent moon — a young moon fresh from its new phase on Monday — now creeping away from the sun's glare and passing two bright stars, Castor and Pollux, in the constellation Gemini. About 45 minutes after sunset, where you are on Thursday, May 29, 2025, is when to head outside, just as a deep twilight takes hold. However, there isn't much time to waste, because, within about 90 minutes, the moon — the "mouth" of the "smiley face" — will sink below the horizon, followed soon after by the '"eyes" castor and Pollux. The action will take place in the north-western sky, as seen from North America. That's just above where the sun will have set about 45 minutes prior. The "smiley face" will sink as you observe it. Besides being the mouth of the "smiley face," a 12%-lit waxing crescent moon is a beautiful sight all on its own. Look away from its bright crescent to the darker side of the moon, and you'll see it subtly lit. That's 'Earthshine,' sunlight reflected onto the moon by Earth's ice caps, clouds and oceans. It's an ethereal sight that can be easily seen with the naked eye but is best viewed through binoculars. It's only visible when the crescent moon is particularly slender. Scientists believe that "Earthshine" is becoming dimmer due to the climate crisis. Pollux (the left-hand "eye") and Castor, the heads of the Gemini twins, are two of the brightest stars in the night sky. About 34 and 51 light-years from the Sun, Pollux is slightly brighter and more orange than Castor, which has a more yellow hue. Pollux is a giant star, while Castor is three stars orbiting each other. Wishing you clear skies and wide eyes.
News.com.au
15-05-2025
- Entertainment
- News.com.au
Gen Z co-opted the smiley face emoji, but beware — it means something totally different to them
What used to be the universal symbol of warmth and joy has taken a sinister turn – at least in the eyes of Gen Z. The classic smiley face emoji now means something completely different to those under 30, The New York Post reports. Instead of conveying happiness, the grinning yellow face is now seen as dismissive, passive-aggressive, or straight-up sarcastic. And if you're sending it to younger colleagues or friends, it could be rubbing them the wrong way. Hafeezat Bishi, a 21-year-old intern, recently told The Wall Street Journal that she was taken aback when her older co-workers used the smiley emoji in emails and texts. 'I had to remember they are older, because I was use it sarcastically,' Ms Bishi said, explaining that she often views the emoji as conveying a 'side-eye smile' rather than genuine enthusiasm. Meanwhile Sara Anderson, a 31-year-old cheerleading coach, told the publication that she regularly includes the emoji to add 'lightness' to her messages. That's exactly the disconnect: what seems friendly to older folks can come off as phony or even biting to the younger crowd. According to Erica Dhawan, author of Digital Body Language: How to Build Trust and Connection, No Matter the Distance, older generations tend to take emojis at face value, while younger 'digital natives' assign entirely different meanings. 'People over 30 tend to use emojis according to their dictionary,' Ms Dhawan told The Journal, emphasising that for Gen Z, emoji meanings have evolved into a whole new lexicon. But the generational gap isn't just about smiley faces. Back in March, Amit Kalley, founder of support site For Working Parents, warned that emojis have become a covert language for teenagers to communicate everything from drug slang to hate speech. 'It's far from an exhaustive list, but it's based on common emojis used to say something very different to what you'd think,' Ms Kalley wrote on Instagram, pointing to a 'periodic table of emojis' that decodes the supposedly hidden messages. A recent study from Oklahoma State University, meanwhile, found that emoji use can reveal a lot more about your personality than you might think. Researchers surveyed 285 undergraduates, mostly 20-year-olds, to see how their emoji habits aligned with personality traits. 'Emoji use may be related to strategies to manipulate the perceptions of others and to present a positive impression of oneself,' the study said, suggesting that what you send could say more about you than you realise. So, the next time you slap a smiley face emoji on a message to Gen Z, think twice – it might not come off as cheery as you'd hoped.
