They say a picture is worth a thousand words, but what about emojis? Throughout the last 30 years, emoticons have evolved from forms of punctuation to full out animated pictures, but their purpose has remained the same. Whether it’s a simple smiley face, a suggestive winky face or a blunter middle finger, emojis can be used to add character and spice to texts or sent alone to prove a point. Many people use different emojis for different things, so I asked some friends what their favorite emojis were and why.

The great, or not so great thing about emojis is that the same one can have a variety of different meanings. This can be good when you find the perfect one that connotes exactly what you want it to, but not so good when the other person doesn’t interpret it the same way. “One of the bad things about emojis,” said junior Grace Young, “is that they’re really easy to misinterpret. Sometimes I’ll get an emoji and spend way too much time trying to figure out what it means.”

Fortunately, emojis are well loved and appreciated by four year olds, teenagers, and even grandmas, so when in doubt, send a unicorn.