Where it comes from
It is a Western internet emoticon typed with plain letters and read upright like a Japanese kaomoji, with the w standing in for the ω mouth of faces like (´・ω・`). It spread through furry, anime and gaming communities, and "uwu speak" swaps r and l for w.
When to use it
Use it to react to something adorable, to thank someone sweetly, or for playful cuteness in chat. Many people also use it ironically or find it cringey, so avoid it in professional settings.
Examples
- You made me a playlist? UwU
- My cat fell asleep on my hand UwU
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
U+0055latin capital letter uw
U+0077latin small letter w