{"id":5118,"date":"2022-07-16T03:09:57","date_gmt":"2022-07-16T03:09:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/?p=5118"},"modified":"2022-07-21T06:40:46","modified_gmt":"2022-07-21T06:40:46","slug":"less-than-3-meaning","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/less-than-3-meaning\/","title":{"rendered":"<3 \u2013 Meaning, Origin and Usage"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Are you looking for a way to send a quick expression of affection, if so, chances are you typed in &lt;3 at some point.<\/p>\n<p>These two simple characters are an easy way to show someone that you care. Instead of looking high and low for the right emoji or meme, a heart is often all you need to get your point across.<\/p>\n<p>Computers everywhere know how to translate &lt;3 into a quick symbol of affection automatically. This post unpacks the meaning and origin of this expression.<\/p>\n<h2>Meaning<\/h2>\n<p>&lt;3 may seem like just some random characters on a keyboard, but they actually will trigger the creation of a heart when used.<\/p>\n<p><strong>&lt;3 stands for heart or love. When you turn your head to the side, you can see the visual representation of a heart. <\/strong><\/p>\n<p>However, typing &lt;3 into your chat, messenger, or even on an internet comment, it will transform into a visual heart automatically.<\/p>\n<p>Most often &lt;3 is used as a sign of affection, or to signify that someone is lonely. It also serves as the symbol for emo hearts, and also as a mathematical way to signify a couple.<\/p>\n<p>Think back to when you were taught about more than, less than, and equal too in grade school. &lt;3 is less than three, which signifies two people, a couple.<\/p>\n<p>In text conversation, it is a less formal way of saying that you care about someone, or love them.<\/p>\n<p>A lesser-used, and more crass meaning of &lt;3 refers to a butt, or a ballsack. However, there is often only used between friends, typically male friends.<\/p>\n<p>The use of the emoticon as a butt or ball sack requires a lot of context, or at least a longer term relationship with the person sending it.<\/p>\n<p>This will prevent miscommunication or misunderstanding surrounding the meaning when used.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"3 Meaning (LOVE)\" width=\"512\" height=\"288\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/kA3CptUAW98?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<h2>Example Usage<\/h2>\n<p>\u201cYou are my &lt;3 Maddy\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI &lt;3 u\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s time for bed, &lt;3 you\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI miss you so much, &lt;3\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMy &lt;3 is completely yours\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHey, babe &lt;3\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI totally &lt;3 the Ravens\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s all &lt;3 dude\u201d<\/p>\n<h2>Origin<\/h2>\n<p>Before emojis and memes became commonplace, keyboard shortcuts were used. &lt;3 quite literally looks like a heart when you turn it sideways and was used to mean love before the creation of emojis and chat images.<\/p>\n<p>Keyboard shortcuts such as &lt;3 have been around as long as computers, some even longer.<\/p>\n<p>Many of these symbols, including &lt;3, were even used during the golden age of typewriters.<\/p>\n<h2>Phrases Similar to &lt;3<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>&lt;333 - I really love you.<\/li>\n<li>K3U - I love you<\/li>\n<li>&lt;4 - I really love you<\/li>\n<li>I&lt;3U - I love you<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Phrases opposite to &lt;3<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>I &lt;2 - It's not love yet<\/li>\n<li>Ih8u -I hate you.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>What is The Correct Saying?<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>I really &lt;3 you.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Ways People May Incorrectly Say &lt;3<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Kiss my &lt;3.<\/li>\n<li>Your &lt;3 is showing.<\/li>\n<li>Wearing saggy pants shows your &lt;3.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Acceptable Ways to Phrase &lt;3<\/h2>\n<p>&lt;3 is most often used on social media and in short-hand phone communications. There are many ways to use it, mainly, it replaces love in any sentence.<\/p>\n<p>It is very casual and should never be used in formal communication.<\/p>\n<p>In most cases, it should be confined to text messages or internet messages between well-known friends.<\/p>\n<p>Some acceptable uses are:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Hey baby, you are my &lt;3.<\/li>\n<li>Let everyone share the &lt;3.<\/li>\n<li>&lt;3 is in the air.<\/li>\n<li>The spice of life lives in the &lt;3.<\/li>\n<li>See you soon, &lt;3 u.<\/li>\n<li>Missing you, &lt;3.<\/li>\n<li>I can\u2019t wait to have you home, &lt;3.<\/li>\n<li>Kiss my &lt;3 dude, you know you want to.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p class=\"mb-2\">Are you looking for a way to send a quick expression of affection, if so, chances are you typed in &lt;3 at some point. These two simple characters are an easy way to show someone that you care. Instead of looking high and low for the right emoji or meme, a heart is often all [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5118"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5118"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5118\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5564,"href":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5118\/revisions\/5564"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5118"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5118"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5118"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}