Emojis

A woman holding a phone with a smiling emoji on the screen

A picture speaks a thousand words. And with over a thousand emoji pictures to represent our words, who needs to speak or write any more?! Let's take a closer look at the UK's fastest-growing language.

Instructions

Do the preparation task first. Then read the article and do the exercises to check your understanding. 

According to Professor Vyv Evans of Bangor University, Emoji is the UK’s fastest-growing language – evolving faster than any language in history. These little electronic images started life in Japanese mobile phones in the 90s and are now hugely popular. In the UK they are becoming more popular than internet abbreviations like ‘lol’ (laughing out loud), ‘muah’ (the sound of a kiss) or 'xoxoxo' (hugs and kisses). They have inspired fashion, like the real-life dress copied from the dancing lady emoji, and are even recognised as art! In New York’s Museum of Modern Art you can now see the first set of the 176 original emojis.

Why do we love them so much?

We really seem to ‘big red heart’ emojis! But why? They allow us to personalise text and have fun as we express ourselves, make people laugh and be creative in how we use them. UK teenagers also told us they really appreciated the fact that emojis are quick and easy.

‘… they’re quick to use instead of words and show hidden meanings.’
Will, 15

‘My favourite emoji is ‘laughing face’ because it saves you putting ‘hahaha’ or ‘lol’.’
Lucia, 15

‘It’s easier for lazy people.’
Lucy, 15

‘Yeah, cuz talking’s effort.’
Katy, 15

People also really identify with their favourite emojis. The emojis we choose can reflect our personality. What does your recently used emoji board say about you? Is it full of party poppers and smileys? Or unhappy faces? In the UK, the most used emojis are ‘face with tears of joy’, ‘face blowing a kiss’ and ‘love heart’. Maybe (with emojis at least) the British are more fun and romantic than people think! You can also tell a lot about a culture from their emoji complaints. Until 2015 when the ‘cheese wedge’ arrived, British people were constantly complaining about the lack of cheese! Now, the addition of ‘bacon’ in 2016 means we’re very close to a full English breakfast.

Diversity and representation

Getting the emoji you want can be a more serious problem than not finding exactly what you had for breakfast. Emojis do not always represent the people that use them. However, after many years of public anger and campaigning, things are changing. Instead of just cartoon-yellow people and faces, we now have the option for five different skin colours. Recent updates also included opposite gender pairs, so we have ‘Mrs Father Christmas’, a smartly dressed ‘man in tuxedo’, as a partner for the bride, and a ‘dancing man’, to match the dancing lady. Soon there will be a redhead emoji, by popular demand, and a woman wearing a headscarf, after German teenager Rayouf Alhumedhi campaigned for an emoji to represent her.

Emojis for campaigns

Can emojis help to change society for the better? Did you know that the ‘eye in speech bubble’ or ‘I Am A Witness’ emoji represents speaking out about online bullying? It was created by Apple and the Ad Council for their ‘I Am A Witness’ campaign. Use it to say that someone’s comment is rude and not OK, or to show someone that you’re on their side when people are not treating them right.

Companies such as McDonalds have also tried to use our love of emojis to their advantage. In their ‘good times’ campaign they use a series of emojis on a billboard to tell a story of a frustrating day given a happy ending by a visit to McDonalds. Unfortunately for McDonalds, the blank white space after the end of the story was too tempting for British graffiti artists. Can you guess what they added? That’s right … the vomiting emoji was a popular choice!

The future of emojis

What is the future of emojis? They are already shaping social media as existing and new platforms evolve to incorporate and respond to their use. Is emoji evolving so rapidly that it will soon compete with English as a global language? Or is technology changing so fast that emojis will soon be forgotten when the next big thing comes along? It is hard to predict and even technology and language experts are divided on the subject. What do you think? Keep your eyes open for new developments!

Discussion

Do you have a favourite emoji? Why do you like it?

Language level
Average: 3 (2 votes)
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Comments

Profile picture for user Cfvdv

Submitted by Cfvdv on Mon, 05/10/2021 - 16:09

I don't have a favourite emoji, but my favourites ones are: Smiling face with sunglasses, Smiling face with tear and thumbs up. I like them because the other people that we are chatting can see what we are feeling wihout having to write, just with an emoji.

Submitted by Arivelde on Mon, 05/10/2021 - 16:00

I don't really have a favorite emoji, but I use a lot the "thumbs up" and "clown face". I don't actually "love" emoji as most people, but I think they are practical and usefull, so they are kind of nice.
Profile picture for user empty

Submitted by empty on Fri, 06/21/2019 - 11:34

I love Emojis ! Because they are quick to use instead of words , And I usually use a lot of Emojis . And my favorite Emoji is the smiley face and laughing face .Because I love smiling .Emojis are so useful for me .

Submitted by ArtDU on Wed, 05/08/2019 - 13:02

I think that emojis are important for teenagers. The emojis simplifies our life and we can express our feelings.
Profile picture for user Shashi

Submitted by Shashi on Wed, 04/10/2019 - 12:51

I use emoji. I like the emoji's laughs and thumbs' up emoji. I love emojis
Profile picture for user Youjiro

Submitted by Youjiro on Fri, 02/15/2019 - 14:18

I don't have favourite emoji. I use emoji when people send me emoji and then I reply text message with emoji. My text message is very simple and just say ok or not . I'd like to type neutral message for every one.but I know a lot of people use emoji to make good atmosphere.Emoji is cute but sometime makes text cheep.
Profile picture for user smilemaria85

Submitted by smilemaria85 on Tue, 01/29/2019 - 11:16

I don't usually use emojis. But of course sometimes a little help to express my feelings can be useful.
Profile picture for user Batgirl

Submitted by Batgirl on Tue, 01/08/2019 - 19:12

Two of my favorite emojis are the unicorn and three heart spinning around. They are funny and nice. I love using emojis because they can easily express my feelings and emotions.
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