Where it comes from
The > and < are eyes pinched shut, like someone wincing or bracing for impact. It is an upright East Asian-style face.
When to use it
Use it when you stub your toe, mess up or feel flustered. It's cute and light, so it may undersell something that really hurts.
Examples
- Stubbed my toe on the bed again (>_<)
- I called my teacher "mom" (>_<)
Variants to copy
What it is made of
Every character in the face with its Unicode code point — handy if one shows up as a box on a friend's phone.
(
U+0028left parenthesis>
U+003Egreater-than sign_
U+005Flow line<
U+003Cless-than sign)
U+0029right parenthesis