What is an owl emoticon?

An owl emoticon is a string of text and symbols that is used to communicate surprise or a state of being overwhelmed. The most common variation is (OvO), which depicts two large eyes and a beak.

The first emoticon was officially used September 19, 1982. In a 2011 Japanese study published in the 2014 issue of Social Neuroscience, emoticons were used in a study by neuroscientists to better understand how this abbreviated emotional medium affects our brain chemistry. They found that emoticons are unique in that they activate brain activity in areas used for verbal and nonverbal communication. The nonverbal communication area activated was the same area affected in facial recognition studies.