Emoji meaning
What a handshake 🤝 means in a chat
🤝 is the emoji version of shaking on it. People send it to close a deal, agree a plan, announce a collaboration or end an argument on good terms, and it powers a meme in which two unlikely groups turn out to share one thing.
Updated 6 October 2026
Agreement or respect: “deal,” “we’re good” or “we’re teaming up,” and in memes, two groups that share one thing.
What 🤝 can mean
1. Deal, agreed
The plain meaning. 🤝 ends a negotiation the way a handshake does in person: a price for a second-hand bike on Marketplace, who brings what to the picnic, a swap of concert tickets. It tells the other person you accept the terms and the haggling is over.
2. Teaming up
Brands, creators and small businesses use it to announce a collaboration, usually placed between two names: “Our bakery 🤝 the coffee cart next door.” In a bio, “collabs 🤝 DM me” means the person is open to partnerships. It does the job of the “x” in a collab name, with a friendlier feel.
3. Respect and no hard feelings
After a match, a debate or a falling-out, 🤝 is a truce. Gamers type “gg 🤝” when a game ends, rival fans trade it after a close derby, and friends use it to close an argument: “we good? 🤝.” It is respect between equals, a step more formal than a hug.
4. The “X 🤝 Y” meme
This comes from the epic handshake meme, built on a still from the 1987 film Predator in which two muscular arms clasp. Each arm gets a label for a different group, and the grip in the middle is what they share. In text it becomes “Night owls 🤝 early birds: being awake at 5am.” Read it as “these two have this in common.”
When someone sends you 🤝
What it means in a DM
Mostly “deal” or “agreed.” If you have been sorting out a price, a time or a favour, 🤝 means they accept and consider it settled, so reply with the details in words: when, where and how they’ll pay. After a disagreement, it’s an offer to move on; send one back or say “all good.” From a brand you pitched, it usually means they want to work together.
Is it flirty?
Almost never. 🤝 is the emoji of partners, teammates and business deals, so from someone you fancy it reads more like “good mates” than romance. If they send it after you agree to meet for a drink, they are confirming the plan, which is fine, but the handshake adds no spark of its own.
🤝 in real conversations
- Facebook commentCan do £40 if you collect it today 🤝Deal. I can be there by 6, does that work?
- CaptionOur bakery 🤝 the coffee cart next door. Croissant and flat white for £5 all week.
- Instagram commentgg 🤝 that last round was closeRematch tomorrow, I want my revenge 😤
- Direct messagesorry I snapped earlier. we good? 🤝We’re good. I was tired too.
- Story replyCats 🤝 toddlers: knocking things off tables to see what happensMy nephew and my cat, every single day 😂
How to reply to 🤝
Common 🤝 combos
| Combo | What it means | Copy |
|---|---|---|
| 🤝💯 | Full respect, or completely agreed | |
| 🤝🔥 | A collaboration people are excited about | |
| 💼🤝 | A business deal or a new partnership | |
| gg 🤝 | Good game: respect to the other side after a match | |
| 🫱🏻🫲🏾 | A handshake with a different skin tone on each hand |
Questions people ask
Can the two hands in 🤝 have different skin tones?
Yes, on newer phones. Skin tones for 🤝 arrived with Emoji 14.0 in 2021, including versions where each hand has its own tone, built by joining 🫱 rightwards hand and 🫲 leftwards hand. An older phone may show that version as two separate hands or as empty boxes, so the plain yellow 🤝 is safest when you’re unsure what the other person will see.
Is 🤝 a good reply to a customer?
Yes, once something has been agreed: a booking, a custom order, a price. Follow it with the details in words, because the emoji alone doesn’t record what was agreed. Avoid it as the answer to a complaint, where it can look as if you are closing the matter before fixing anything.
What is the difference between 🤝 and 👊?
🤝 is a formal yes or a sign of respect, the kind you would give a new business partner. 👊 oncoming fist is a fist bump: casual, friendly and often a greeting between mates or a quick “nice one.” 🤜🤛, two fists meeting, means the same as 👊.
Does 🤝 mean the conversation is over?
Often it means that one topic is settled, the way a handshake ends a meeting. It isn’t a brush-off. If you have more to say, carry on as normal.
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