Key Takeaways
The subject in one line
This piece is about a WhatsApp message where emoji art and a short “x7” turn a simple compliment into something memorable.
The main lessons
- Emoji art can act like a little portrait. It can carry tone, jokes, and love without many words.
- Small add-ons like “x7” work as intensifiers. They make the message feel louder and sweeter.
- WhatsApp shows an edit label on changed messages, and it protects chats with end-to-end encryption.
Story & Details
A small moment with a big smile
In December 2025, a daughter sent her father a short line: “Dad, you are very strong.” The words were simple. The style was not.
The message came with a “person” made from emojis: a hat, a bearded face, a flexed arm, a tie, and a mechanical arm. Then came pants and footwear. In one version the feet looked like socks. In another version the shoes did not match. That mismatch matters. It reads like play. It says: this is not a poster. This is family.
Then came a final burst: “x7”. It looks like a quick math sign. In everyday texting, it works more like feeling. It is “very strong” turned up again. It is praise with a wink.
What this style is doing
Emoji art works like a tiny stage. Each emoji is a prop. Together they form a character. That character carries a message that plain text often cannot carry alone: tone, closeness, and humor.
A 2025 study in PLOS ONE found that adding emojis to messages can increase how responsive and caring a sender seems, and that this feeling can link to greater closeness and relationship satisfaction. The key point is not the exact emoji. The simple presence of emojis can change how the message feels.
A practical reply that keeps the warmth
A strong reply often keeps three things:
- The same emotional temperature.
- The same level of play.
- Clear love in few words.
A short answer can do the job: “Thank you. That means a lot.” A playful answer can mirror the style: a “strong” emoji plus a small joke. A family answer can widen the circle: “Strength runs in the family.”
A tiny Dutch lesson, for the same idea
Dutch is spoken in the Netherlands (Europe). Here is a simple way to say the same compliment in Dutch, with a clear feel for how it works.
Dutch sentence: Vader, jij bent heel sterk.
Very simple meaning: A child tells a father that he is very strong.
Word-by-word:
- Vader = father
- jij = you, informal and stressed
- bent = are
- heel = very
- sterk = strong
A polite version uses a different “you”:
Dutch sentence: Vader, u bent heel sterk.
Very simple meaning: A polite form of the same compliment.
Word-by-word:
- u = you, polite
A small grammar detail helps with questions:
Dutch question: Ben jij heel sterk?
Very simple meaning: Asking, “Are you very strong?”
Word-by-word:
- Ben = are
- jij = you
- heel = very
- sterk = strong
The quiet safety layer people forget
WhatsApp states that personal messages and calls are protected with end-to-end encryption. In plain words, the message is meant to be readable only by the people in the chat, not by outsiders. That does not change the emotion of the compliment, but it explains why this kind of family warmth often lives comfortably inside private chats.
WhatsApp also allows message editing for a short time window, and it marks edited messages with an edit label. That label is small, but it is a trust signal: it shows a change happened without showing a full change history.
Conclusions
The lasting point
A few emojis, one sentence, and two characters—“x7”—made a compliment feel like a small celebration.
The takeaway to keep
When a message needs warmth, clarity, and a bit of fun, emoji art can do what long text often cannot: it can show the person behind the words.
Selected References
[1] WhatsApp Help Center: About end-to-end encryption — https://faq.whatsapp.com/820124435853543
[2] WhatsApp Blog: Now you can edit your WhatsApp messages — https://blog.whatsapp.com/now-you-can-edit-your-whatsapp-messages
[3] PLOS ONE (2025): The impact of emojis on perceived responsiveness and relationship satisfaction in text messaging — https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0326189
[4] FutureLearn: Personal pronouns in Dutch — https://www.futurelearn.com/info/courses/dutch/0/steps/2029
[5] YouTube (Computerphile): End to End Encryption (E2EE) — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jkV1KEJGKRA
Appendix
A1 Reader
A beginner reader level that benefits from short sentences, common words, and clear links between ideas.
Edit Label
A small marker shown next to a message to indicate the sender changed it after sending.
Emoji
A small pictorial symbol used in digital messages to add emotion, tone, or extra meaning.
Emoji Art
A group of emojis arranged to look like a person or scene, like a tiny picture made from symbols.
End-to-End Encryption
A security method where messages are encrypted so only the chat participants can read them.
Intensifier
A word, symbol, or pattern that makes meaning stronger, such as repeating letters, adding “very,” or using “x7.”
Paralinguistic Cue
A non-word signal that adds meaning to communication, such as tone markers, emojis, or timing in a chat.
Pronoun
A small word that stands in for a person or thing, such as “you,” “he,” or “they.”
A messaging app that supports text, voice, and video, and offers end-to-end encryption for personal messages and calls.
My Diary - Leonardo Cardillo 