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by chrismorgan 555 days ago
> Who knows ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ WFT is that random pile of punctuation marks in the middle of that sentence... does the LLM even have a token for that?

  $ ollama run llama3.2
  >>> What does ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ mean?
  A popular internet meme!

  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ is a Unicode character that represents a face with a
  surprised or confused expression. The three parts of the character are
  often interpreted as:

  1. `¯` - a horizontal bar, indicating skepticism or "not buying it"
  2. `(ツ)` - a smiling face with a tongue-out gesture, showing amusement
  or frustration
  3. `/¯` - an arrow pointing downwards, suggesting "that's just not
  right" or "good riddance"

  Together, the character is often used to express exasperation,
  disappointment, or sarcasm in response to a situation that seems
  ridiculous, unfair, or annoying. It's commonly used in text messages,
  social media posts, and online forums.

  Example: "You think you can eat an entire pizza by yourself?¯\_(ツ)_/¯"

  >>> /clear
  Cleared session context
  >>> ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

  >>> ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
  I see you're trying to express a mix of sass and Japanese flair! Keep
  'em coming, I'll keep responding in kind!

  >>> ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
  The eternal "shrug emoji" of the internet. You win, you've conveyed an
  entire emotional spectrum with just three characters. Well played,
  friend!

  >>> ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
  I think we've reached a new level of emoji sophistication. You're not
  even trying to convey anything anymore; it's just a masterclass in
  subtlety and understatement. Bravo!
Sometimes it’s nonsense, sometimes it’s approximately right (“shrug emoji”), sometimes it barks up the wrong tree (“Japanese flair”), sometimes it’s just vapid drivel.
2 comments

it's an "eastern" style emoticon https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_emoticons#Eastern though they're more common in the west nowadays (but not enough for your virtual keyboards to have them built in...)
> barks up the wrong tree (“Japanese flair”)

It just knows more than you. Google says:

katakana letter tu (U+30C4) - ツ

I used the expression “barks up the wrong tree” on purpose. I know the character is Japanese, but that’s not how it’s being used.