Ranking Emoji: The S-Tiers, the D-Tiers, and the Ones That Scare Us
Peter and Aubrey tier-rank roughly 40 of the most-used emoji — from the S-tier greats (poop, rolling eyes, facepalm, middle finger, crying-laughing) to the D-tier offenders (the ROFL emoji, which Peter openly despises) — and in the process reveal exactly how differently a father and daughter text. Along the way, they debate emoji versatility, ambiguity, and the risk of being misunderstood. Peter closes the "low-stakes activity" with a confession about his S-tier list, then Aubrey delivers an Astro Fact on the morning's Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope launch.
Show Notes
- Emoji tier list: Peter and Aubrey rank roughly 40 emoji pulled from Peter's most-used list in iMessage plus a few randoms.
- S-tier winners: chef's kiss, poop, rolling eyes, facepalm, puking, crying-laughing, thumbs up, middle finger, and swearing — mostly negative-emotion picks.
- Peter despises the ROFL (rolling-on-the-floor) emoji, calling it "unhinged" and a sign of a "crazy person," and prefers the classic laughing-with-tears face.
- The two disagree on the side-eye faces, with Peter preferring the facial side-eye over the plain sideways-looking eyes.
- Emoji-versatility debate: drooling, hot face, and the sweaty face all hinge on whether the emotion reads clearly to the receiver.
- Astro Fact: NASA's Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope launched this morning aboard a SpaceX Falcon Heavy.
- Roman's wide-field view is roughly 100x larger than Hubble's, and it will work in tandem with the James Webb Space Telescope.
- Roman is headed to Lagrange Point 2 (L2), the same neighborhood as Webb, about a three-month transit.
- First images from Roman are expected in early 2027, with a five-year primary mission plus a five-year extended mission.