A pose consisting of a cheeky grin with the tongue out, one eye closed, and either one arm up behind the head or a v hand sign raised to the face. The pose is usually a way for a character to cover for a mistake and brush it off with a cute expression.
The phrase "tehepero" was coined by the voice actressHikasa Youko in a 2009 blog post as a combination of the onomatopoiea "tehe" for giggle and "pero" for sticking the tongue out. It is often rendered with a star てへぺろ☆; the full emoticon is てへぺろ☆(・ω<).
Since winking and sticking the tongue out are both common facial expressions, an image should only be considered a reference to tehepero and tagged as such if the complete tehepero pose is emulated, or if a reference is made explicitly in text (i.e. 「てへぺろ」 in speech or sfx).
If the character is tapping their head while winking and sticking their tongue out, use dojikko pose instead; if they're touching their head with both hands with both eyes closed, use ah eto... bleh (meme).
