The Oxford Dictionaries has selected their 2015 "word of the year" and it's an Emoji.
When I heard this my first thought was no way, but the link verifies the choice. Not sure how much that bothers me ... I mean, it's a symbol in widespread use that has a clear and unambiguous meaning. Can't really argue that "tears of joy" is any different, except for the choice of symbols. Still, something bothers me about this unprecedented entry.
I haven't encountered it all that much, and I don't find clear and unambiguous. Having myself experienced helpless, uncontrollable, weeping laughter even in the face of utmost despair, I don't get the joy component. Oxford says this thing is "officially called the ‘Face with Tears of Joy’ emoji," but doesn't say who makes it official, nor do they give us a clue how one would look it up, should they decided to list it in their dictionaries.
I assume the "official" name of an emoji would be the one its creator bestowed upon it.
I've never run across an article listing emojis, and telling how to enter them in a tweet. Is there a Char Map app in Win 10 for emojis, or do you enter a number while holding doen the Alt key, or what?
Cute youtube on the page Heimhenge linked to!
deaconB said
I assume the "official" name of an emoji would be the one its creator bestowed upon it.
I would make the same assumption, but it seemed odd to me that in an article about the Word of the Year they didn't cite a source for it if they knew what it was.
I look forward to selections in future years, when the Word of the Year will be, in turn: A Single Unexpected Open-Mouth Hiccup, The Color of Butter That Has Gone Slightly Off, The Sound of Letting Air Out of A Balloon, The Smell of Burning Electrical Insulation, and The Sudden Jerk That Occurs Just As You're About to Fall Asleep.