That sounds indeed kind of confusing :D
How long ago was that actually used that way?

the predecessor of FB's unlike emoji c'':

Oh I do 'know' that gesture with both hands doing the silly face for kids, it's shown in movies sometimes right? c:

well each country/culture/region has their own dialect and sayings etc, so s'just one of those things that are more done in America I guess? c':

I think if you'd ask people from all over the world to pull a funny face like they'd do for a kid you'd see differences

I've never seen that emoji :o

Well, I followed your advice and did a Google search and have a much clearer picture of what it means, now.

Although the photoshopped images of people with a thumb on their face where their nose should be are rather disturbing.

Oh I know you're not from America, otherwise I wouldn't have shown you my EU giveaway for example c':

but I meant that most of the time (at least here) movies are American/show American places and customs so I figured it was 'an American thing' based on only seeing it in movies myself