Bikini

Usually beachwear and holiday mood, not an invitation. On its own, 👙 says someone is thinking about the beach, the pool or a trip to pack for. A flirty reading comes from the conversation around it, such as a remark about someone's body or a suggestive invite, so read the messages before reading anything into the emoji.

Phones with current emoji fonts draw a bikini, but colour and pattern differ by vendor: a polka-dot one on one screen and a plain one on another are the same character. A different look on the recipient's phone does not change what you sent.

Why is it called a bikini?

It is named after Bikini Atoll, a US nuclear test site. The atoll lies in the Marshall Islands in the Pacific, and the United States began atomic tests there on 1 July 1946. Four days later, French engineer Louis Réard showed his tiny two-piece at the Piscine Molitor, a Paris swimming pool. The usual story is that he wanted a name that promised something just as explosive.

Two-piece swimsuits already existed, and the designer Jacques Heim promoted his own small two-piece that same summer. What set Réard's apart was the cut below the navel. The garment scandalised at first and became ordinary beachwear over the following decades, sooner in Europe than in the United States.