Emojis are... awesomeππππππββοΈ.
Lately, I've been addicted to emojis, theyβre so fun and mesmerizing to use. I find them amusing yet oddly complicated and hard to fully grasp. A little chitchat with Ara somehow brought up the topic. I think it started with spamming emojis, and I sarcastically said, "Who even started spamming emojis everywhere? Thatβs awesome," knowing full well it was me all along. She hit back with, "bisa diteliti fr π€―π±πβπ₯," and since I was already deep into educational videos (Answer In Progress really inspires me), I replied, "Imma make a cool short video about it." So, I guess I owe her thatππ ππ€.
Long story short, she sent me a reference to a reference, The Etymology Nerd Blog and Emojis Are Weird (Linguistically Speaking), which I thought was really cool. So, hereβs the gist of it π₯π§¨π:
Emoji was invented in Japan in the late β90s. The word emoji comes from the Japanese βeβ (picture) and βmojiβ (character). Emojis can be considered pictograms, graphic symbols that convey meaning through visual resemblance to real-world things. They both clarify and complicate messages, creating potential ambiguities based on interpretation. Linguistically, emojis are unique, they serve as an evolving form of written expression, adapting to modern communication. In other words, they evolve. And with that evolution, they take on nuanced meanings, blurring the lines between visual symbols and verbal language.
Safe to say, I was absolutely locked in, watching that video and reading countless etymology blogs. One word to describe them all? Fascinating. Everything runs deeper than we think, if only we dig deep enough. Now, I appreciate emojis even more, and I wonβt stop spamming them. In fact, Iβm just gonna do it even more. ππ₯