Back then data transfer speeds were 500 times slower, too, so messages had to be as small as possible. It had a small monochrome LCD screen which could only fit 48 letters. One of the big mobile companies, NTT DoCoMo, was preparing to launch the world’s first internet-enabled phone. The first set of emojis were created in 1998 in Japan. The word “emoji” literally translates from the Japanese as “picture-letter”, but it’s the story of emojis that’s worth a thousand words. But when you send the smiling emoji, that shows that you are feeling happy.” Sukhbaatar’s originally from Mongolia, and now he’s a senior at Oakland International, which is a high school for newly arrived immigrants. If you use a word when you are texting then that person will not know how do you feel. Oakland International High School student Gantulga Sukhbaatar gives us a hint. Other finalists for Word of the Year were “sharing economy,” “they (singular)” and “refugee”, but the ‘Face with Tears of Joy’ trumped them all. Where did these modern hieroglyphics come from, and what makes emojis so dang irresistible?

For the first time ever, the Oxford Dictionaries’ Word of the Year for 2015 was not a word, but an emoji. These little picture symbols are meant to convey an idea, a feeling, or an object-and they seem to work. They’re the little icons that brighten up dry digital messages with smiley faces and hearts, skulls and rockets.

If there’s a smartphone in your pocket, or your pocketbook, you’re probably familiar with emojis.

Senior moment emoji