What Does Emo Stand For?

What does emo stand for in music?

In music, emo began as a nickname for emotional hardcore. Hardcore punk was known for short, fast, angry songs. Some bands in the Washington, D.C., punk scene of the mid 1980s kept the loud guitars but wrote about heartbreak, regret and friendship in a raw, confessional way. Fans and critics started calling the sound emocore, and then just emo.

The label spread in waves. Smaller underground bands carried it through the 1990s, and in the following decade a more polished version reached mainstream radio. Each wave sounded a bit different, which is one reason fans still argue about which bands count.

How a music label became a look

As the music grew popular, emo also came to mean a way of dressing. The look most people picture includes:

• Dark or black clothing, often band shirts and slim jeans
• Long side swept bangs, sometimes dyed black
• Eyeliner worn by people of any gender
• Studded belts, wristbands and canvas sneakers

Teens who dressed this way were often called emo kids. Some embraced the word, while others felt it was used to mock them. The style overlaps with goth and scene fashion, but each group has its own roots.

Emo meaning in slang and texts

Outside music, people use emo as an adjective for someone who is acting sad, gloomy or very sensitive. It is usually light teasing between friends.

Tone matters. Said kindly, it is a joke. Said to someone who is truly struggling, it can come across as dismissive, so read the room.

Emo, goth and scene: not the same thing

All three may share black clothing, but fans of each would tell you the music and attitude are different.

How to say and write emo

Say it "EE-moh," rhyming with "memo" without the m at the start. Write it in lowercase in normal text: "an emo band," "emo fashion." Use a capital E only to open a sentence or in a headline. The plural for people is "emos" or, more often, "emo kids."

Examples in sentences:

• "My older brother had an emo phase in high school."
• "That band started out punk and moved toward emo."
• "She calls her rainy day playlist her emo mix."
• "Is that jacket emo or just black?"

A short form, but not an acronym

Many people search for what emo stands for because they assume each letter means a word. It does not. Emo belongs to a group of clipped words, like "info" from information or "demo" from demonstration. For the difference between clipped words, acronyms and other short forms, see acronym vs abbreviation. For more letters and short words people use every day, browse our famous acronyms list, including music terms like EDM and R&B.