Taking advantage of the fact that the Seville Fair is being held in Spain and that the Pisuerga passes through Valladolid, it seems that a good day has stayed to shed some light on the true meaning of “the flamenco of WhatsApp.” This is one of the best known and most versatile icons since it can be used when you feel like partying, when something goes well or as a synonym for a very Spanish phrase: “¡Olé!”. But no, I’m sorry to tell you that the flamenco on WhatsApp is neither flamenco nor does she wear a fair dress. What, then, is its meaning?
The truth is that, although we could associate the emoji with the traditional Spanish flamenco singing and dancing, the reality is that we have to cross the pond to go back to its origins. And it is that “the flamenco dancer of WhatsApp” is, in reality, “the salsa dancer of WhatsApp.” Indeed, the emoji represents a salsa dancer. Yes, you have been deceived all your life. Well, not your whole life, rather since 2010.
The emoji, whose real name is “Woman Dancing,” was introduced in Unicode 6.0 under the name “Dancer” and was added to Emoji 1.0 in 2015. She is also known as “the woman in the red dress” or “salsa dancer,” but the words “flamenco” or “Spanish” do not appear anywhere. It is enough to look at the details of the image to realize that it does not have a comb or castanets, basic accessories of flamenco dresses.
It was initially thought of as a genderless emoji, but its appearance caused it to be associated with a woman. This may have led to the addition of a dancing man to the emoji family in 2016 as part of Unicode 9.0. However, he is not dressed as men who dance salsa tend to wear but with clothing more typical of the nightclubs of the 80s. So much so that, although his real name is “Man Dancing,” he is known as “Disco Dancer.”
That said, I think it’s about time you assumed that this …
… is this :
Sharlene Meriel is an avid gamer with a knack for technology. He has been writing about the latest technologies for the past 5 years. His contribution in technology journalism has been noteworthy. He is also a day trader with interest in the Forex market.
