wtf do the daffodils and chess pieces (pawns?) mean?

[poolsofsunshine]

Daffodils seem to be being used as a sarcastic version of the icon on a few threads, in fact they're being used in a similar way to a , is that right?

No idea what the chess pawn's about, is it to accuse posters of being mindless pawns? That one isn't on the MN site provided emoji selection but seems to be cropping up on various threads from different user names.

The threads about homeschooling and keyworker childcare aren't all the same though. Shutting them down with daffodils suggests nothing may ever be questioned or discussed.

Also if course not everyone who posts that they are a teacher/ solicitor/ doctor/ social worker/ billionaire is... There was a really unpleasant, hard hearted, unsympathetic, utterly goady thread proportions to be by a teacher OP slating her homeschooling non teacher friends and every other parent yesterday. I sincerely hope that she or he wasn't really a teacher as the utter lack of not only empathy but understanding of the simple fact children are not all the same made them sound utterly unsuitable. Luckily MN took the thread down - that kind of thing does teachers more harm than the thread questioning why teachers can't help key worker's children do their set work in the same way parents working from home have to.

I hadn't clicked that the daffodils were only on teacher threads before though. I don't think any group of people or professional role should be immune to scrutiny, though I appreciate teachers are criticised as a group in a way no other profession for various reasons.

I actually live abroad now in a country where teachers are almost impossible to fire and once qualified (a longer minimum training and assessment duration than in the UK) are almost beyond scrutiny, and this has considerable downsides. Obviously the UK atm is too far the other way, so teachers are naturally defensive.

*waves to Errol

is for fans of The Archers who post on the long-running threads (117 and counting). It was created when we reached a big milestone in MN posts, and is supposed to represent the pub sign for The Bull, the pub in Ambridge. It's not on the list at the bottom of the page so I don't know how you found it without already knowing about it IYSWIM

*purporting to be by a teacher OP

The chess pawn is on your normal phone/tablet/laptop emoji keyboard - so it's not MN specific.

As PP have explained, it came off the 'people who enjoy patronising and depressing others' thread. This has turned into a bit of a haven for MNers (incl. me) who are finding that some people seem to really relish the opportunity to play up the most depressing parts of the pandemic, or who are competing to try and be the most extreme or judgemental about those who they feel don't follow 'the rules'.

Posted too soon -

So you may have seen the pawn crop up a few times where someone on a thread has posted something really dire, or judgemental.

I thought the pawn was just someone pressing the wrong button but I only saw it the once. I didn't know it had some hidden meaning.

Thanks for the explanations everyone!

I don't have a chess piece, I have a TARDIS

There is also a crown Mumsnet emoji that's not on the list (sometimes used on the Royal Family threads:

[ crown ] =

I’m a premium member (need a suitably smug icon) and only get the standard ones. Guess the other ones are emojis from phones/tablets.

[pawn]

Let's see...

Oh! No pawn. No tennis ball, which I can see and clicked on and a crown, which I can't

@MrsJoshNavidi
[ followed by word ] , no gaps should give a picture.



The last one is tbgrin.

@dementedpixie I think it’s not working as you keep putting capital letters. Same as when you type [Grin] instead of grin you don’t get the emoji

Oops I was just supposed to preview that to see if it worked but accidentally clicked post! Apparently not.

I originally thought was a sea mine.

That begs the question what sort of thread would have inspired its creation!
A sea mine has 'spikes' so could have served double duty as a CV virus well, I suppose.

Oooh the blank posts still work

🍤 chess prawn

[]

How do you do a blank ?@Hairdowntohisknees

How do you put The Bull emoji in?

I've tried various permutations of [bull], [thebull], [the bull] etc and no joy.

(It actually looks like a piece of knitting featuring a design of a Pom Bear hanging from a knitting needle to me. My crap phone or my crap eyesight? Or both?)

Are these emojis like the "secret McDonald's menu"?

Mind you, looks like a scary skull to me so I never use it.

I thought the bull was a reindeer or stag .
It comes up on my phone in the app.

You use the word archers .