i think the second var is target, if its not, then one of the pages is wrong because the wow api page has it as that and thats what i thought.
Aug. 21, 2008 - this function appears to behave as I indicated. It no longer appears to be able to take a string for its second argument to manually target the function. Recompense (talk) 06:41, 22 August 2008 (UTC)
Second parameter does work as a target.[]
I updated the article to reflect this. I tested it in 3.2.
If the 2nd parameter is a valid UnitId then the emote will be performed on that person, this can even be player names (as long as they're in range). If you provide an invalid UnitId, the unit is not found, or is out of range, then the emote will be performed on yourself. If you leave the second parameter nil, then the emote will be performed on your current target or yourself if you have no target.