Jiong (囧) is a rare Chinese character, originally meaning "window," that was repurposed online as an emoticon because its shape resembles a dejected, wide-eyed, downturned-mouth face -- used to express embarrassment, awkwardness, or being at a loss.
EXPLAINER
一本正經說故事 · original source ↗
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REAL-WORLD EXAMPLE
"I showed up to the wrong meeting room in front of the whole team -- total 囧 (jiong) moment."
LORE & ORIGIN
It was first popularized in Taiwanese online communities around 2004-2005, after a forum post about a 囧-shaped rock spurred a wave of meme edits, likely influenced by pre-existing Japanese emoticon culture like orz; it crossed over into mainland Chinese internet culture around 2008.
EQUIVALENT CONCEPTS IN OTHER LANGUAGES
MENTIONS OVER TIME
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