Parents warned to look out for ‘eight ball’ emoji that could have more sinister hidden meaning behind it

Parents have been warned to take note of the emojis which their children use while messaging friends — as some of them may have sinister hidden meanings.

Thanks to Netflix's universally acclaimed limited series Adolescence, adults up and down the country are becoming increasingly aware that the younger generation may be utilising their emoji keyboard to send coded messages to friends.

Previously just an innocent way to embellish your messages with smiley faces, certain emojis are now taking on secondary meanings.

In the four-part Stephen Graham series we see DI Bascombe (Ashley Walters) enlist the help of his son, Adam, to decode recurring emojis in social media comments, which includes pills, 100s and more.

However police are now warning that numerous emojis are being used as a covert way of talking about drugs sex and violence.

Here are the ones you need to look out for.

Emojis which reference drugs

According to guidance from Surrey Police there are various emojis which are used to reference drugs. One of these is the 'eight ball' emoji which can be used as slang for an eight of an ounce of drugs, potentially by someone who was either buying or selling.

Other symbols which have been linked to dealing drugs include:

• Snowflake, snowman and nose emojis: cocaine
• Balloons: nitrous oxide (NOS) canisters
• Pills, diamond, needle and blow emojis: used to differentiate between types of drugs
• Rocket emoji: purity of drugs
• Plug emoji: drug dealer
• Leaves or green emojis: marijuana

The eight ball emoji is one which has been linked to drug use (Getty Stock Images)

Emojis which reference incel culture

As the Netflix series revealed, emojis are also being utilised to spread harmful ideologies online, one of these being incel culture, which teenager Jamie (Owen Cooper) finds himself wrapped up in.

As seen in the show, both the pill and the 100 emoji can be linked to online misogyny, however these are not the only ones.

Others include:

• Coffee emoji: linked to the 'women coffee' meme, used online to mock or belittle women
• Kidney bean emoji: similar to the coffee emoji, this is a way for incels to identify themselves or mock women
• Exploding dynamite emoji: someone is a radicalised incel
• Red/blue dots: red pill/ blue pill. Inspired by The Matrix, this is a long-running way to say whether or not someone has been 'awakened' to the 'manosphere'.

The series also revealed the hidden meaning behind heart emojis (Getty Stock Images)

Emojis which reference sex and sexual relationships

Aside from the well-known sexualised emojis - such as the aubergine, three droplets of water and the sweating face - Adolescence also notes that coloured hearts are a new way to categorise romantic and sexual relationships.

These are:

• Red: love
• Pink: interested, but not sexually
• Purple: horny
• Orange: 'everything's going to be fine'
• Yellow: 'I’m interested, are you interested'

Other sexual emojis can include cat faces and tacos as a symbol for vaginas and corn emojis to indicate pornography.