Is it meaningful to say "谢" only? Google Translate implies that it may also mean "wither". I want to use it to say "thanks" instead of both characters.
I am looking for single characters that I can use for some mandarin emojis, one of which is to mean "thankyou".
You can say 谢了 to mean thanks.
If you're talking or typing, a single 谢 is impolite. It feels like you're so unwilling to thank that you don't even want to say/type one more character.
If you're using it in a symbol/icon/emoji picture, then it's OK, and won't cause any confusion, nobody would take it as "wither".
it is not polite to use 谢 to someone.so if you really want to express your thankness,use 谢谢 or 谢谢你.谢了 is also not very polite but much better than 谢.in our culture,abbreviated words are usually used in the case when superior talk to subordinate or senior talk to junior,like father talk to son.if you want to show your respect to someone use more characters instead single,like if you want to say ok,use 好的 instead of 好. and never use 谢他,it is the transcription of shit in china.who told you use that must be joking you or he dont know chinese.
You can use '谢' as a short form of the verb '感谢' and write 谢他 instead of 感谢他, but using it as a short form of the expression '谢了' or '谢谢' would sound very blunt. Why use a blunt tone when you try to express gratitude?
thxor3xon the internet. (Chinese3sounds liketh). And single char谢may also means谢绝or谢罪, which has totally different meaning. – Zang MingJie Nov 21 '17 at 13:26