Uwu, owo, and their many other forms are used by many people online, especially in fan art and fan culture. As with many things used to mock people, some furries reclaimed the OwO insult. Uwu got a lot of mainstream attention in 2018 after Mark Hamill (you know, Luke Skywalker?!) tweeted uwu as a fan request.īy 2013, the emoticon OwO had been embraced by the furry community, so much so that the expression OwO whats this was used as a way of mocking furries (specifically, the stereotype that they are too … horny). Uwu and owo spread online in the late 2000s with the rise of social media and the increasing popularity of East Asian popular culture in the West. It was likely being used in East Asian digital communication well before it. Uwu is likely a simplified form of such kaomoji as (o･ω･o).Īn early instance of uwu (as Uwu) can be found online at least by 2005 on an English-language anime and manga fan fiction site. Kaomoji are considered kawaii, or “cute,” and often draw on anime and manga. Uwu is connected to kaomoji, a type of Japanese emoticon which incorporates special characters used in Japanese writing. I got a bit better with small tracing and referencingĪnd I think she looks cute either way UwO /WguP3eSZwA The overall effect is meant to look cute, depicting a face of someone feeling all warm and fuzzy-as if the eyes are closed and the nose and mouth are scrunched up in a playful, smiling “Aww!” As for owo, the o‘s depict eyes wide open with surprise.

In the case of uwu, the u is supposed to represent eyes and w, the mouth. Emoticons use keyboard characters to represent facial expressions and emotions, like the classic smiley, :-). Before emoji took over, we had the humble emoticon.

What does uwu mean