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Emoji

Symbols often used as emotional cues in text / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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An emoji (/ɪˈm/ i-MOH-jee; plural emoji or emojis;[1] Japanese: 絵文字) is a pictogram, logogram, ideogram, or smiley embedded in text and used in electronic messages and web pages. The primary function of emoji is to fill in emotional cues otherwise missing from typed conversation.[2] Emoji exist in various genres, including facial expressions, common objects, places and types of weather, and animals. They are much like emoticons, except emoji are pictures rather than typographic approximations; the term "emoji" in the strict sense refers to such pictures which can be represented as encoded characters, but it is sometimes applied to messaging stickers by extension.[3] Originally meaning pictograph, the word emoji comes from Japanese e (, 'picture') + moji (文字, 'character'); the resemblance to the English words emotion and emoticon is purely coincidental.[4] The ISO 15924 script code for emoji is Zsye.

Twemoji_1f600.svg
The "Grinning Face" emoji, from the Twemoji set
Texting_Emoji.jpg
Emoji being added to a text message, 2013

Originating on Japanese mobile phones in 1997, emoji became increasingly popular worldwide in the 2010s after being added to several mobile operating systems.[5][6][7] They are now considered to be a large part of popular culture in the West and around the world.[8][9] In 2015, Oxford Dictionaries named the Face with Tears of Joy emoji (😂) the word of the year.[10][11]