*hugs* — an action in asterisks, from IRC's /me command into every chatroom, as the way to do something in text: *sighs*, *rolls eyes*, *leaves*. The record's entry for the stage direction that everyone typed, and that Gen Z has revived as a joke.
For the record: Asterisk Action is not a joke, it is a shorthand. The joke is what happens when someone outside the group tries to use it as one.
I typed *hugs* to a girl on MSN in 2005 and she typed *hugs back* and I did not sleep. The record notes that the asterisks were, for a generation, the only touch available.
What does it mean? Write it the way you would say it out loud.
