What does this emoji mean?
Advertisement - Scroll to continue
What does this emoji represent?
What does this emoji represent?
What is this emoji saying?
What is this emoji supposed to mean?
In what situation could you use the Upside-Down Face emoji?
Advertisement - Scroll to continue
You can send someone this emoji if you want to do what?
An easy bonus question - guess the TV show
What is the name of this emoji?
How many people use the peach emoji to mean a fruit instead of a butt or something else?
How many emojis were officially approved as a part of the Unicode as of September 2021?
Advertisement - Scroll to continue
What emotion does this emoji express?
What is this person supposed to be doing?
Which of these emojis represents someone working in a field of technology?
What kind of feeling is the Melting Face emoji supposed to convey?
Which emoji was the most popular on Twitter in 2021?
Advertisement - Scroll to continue
Which came first: chicken emoji or egg emoji?
Your buddy just sent you this emoji. What emotion could they be feeling?
What can this emoji mean?
What feeling is this emoji supposed to represent?
So, do you think youโre an emoji expert ๐ค? Emojis are more popular ๐ than ever. Did you know that every single day, we send 5 billion ๐ฎ emoticons just via Messenger ๐ฌ. But do you know ๐ค the meanings of these symbols and how to use them correctly? Check your emoji knowledge ๐ง and discover how good ๐ ๐ you are. Do you stand a chance in an emoji battle โ๏ธ with Gen Zโ Good luck! ๐ค
The Emoji-Story: The Fascinating History of Emoticons ๐ซถ ๐ฅ ๐
Have you ever wondered about the origin of the word โemojiโ? It is actually a combination of two Japanese words: โe,โ meaning โpicture,โ and โmoji,โ which stands for โwritten character.โ And just so weโre clear here โ emojis and emoticons are two different things.
The concept of emoticons dates all the way back to the 19th century โ 1881 edition of Puck magazine, to be specific. These simple, if a little solemn-looking symbols were the creative representation of some basic feelings like joy or amazement. The editorial gave them the moniker of โtypographical art,โ and isnโt that basically what emojis are?
Only art connoisseurs can recognize these famous works of art.
The Carnegie Confusion
Back in the 1980s, at Carnegie Mellon University, a users of the schoolโs digital message board had some issues. They struggled to distinguish between serious posts and jokes. Nowadays we know exactly how hard it can be to tell the tone of the text message! To address the conundrum, a faculty member proposed using symbols like ๐ for humorous posts and ๐ for serious ones. For the first time (that we know of) someone used emoticons to communicate. The digital world embraced and expanded the idea of emoticons, leading to the development of modern-day emojis that we know and use today.
The Rise of Emojis
Even though Japanese corporation SoftBank came up with the first collection of emojis in 1997, the person who gets the credit for modern emojis is the engineer Shigetaka Kurita. He worked for a phone company and wanted to interact with clients more easily.
Kurita released the first emojis in 1998, inspired by manga art, the Chinese alphabet, and international signs on bathroom doors. The intent of these symbols wasnโt just to share information but also to provide emotional subtext. For example, you could use a โค๏ธ icon to add a sense of comfort and understanding to your message.
Which anime should you binge?
Emojis rose to popularity in Japan and, soon enough, internationally. Companies like Apple saw the opportunity to benefit from the new craze and incorporate their own emojis on their platforms. But how did we reach the point where emojis can translate through different apps and programs?
How many emojis a day do you send? Too much?
The Great Unification
Back in 2007, the Google team advocated for emojis to be recognized by the Unicode Consortium, a not-for-profit group in charge of computer text norms. They wanted to ensure that emojis are displayed accurately on different platforms and devices. That proposal was approved by Unicode in 2010, which paved the way for the global adoption of emoji.
New Developments & New Craze
In 2011, Apple came up with a keyboard which was made with emojis in mind. Two years later, Android eagerly followed suit. Emojis could now be accessed directly from phone keyboards. As a result, a whole new audience got obsessed with these little cartoon symbols.
The Path to Diversity
Starting in 2015, Unicode made an important move to broaden the diversity of emojis by allowing users to alter the skin tone of people-mojis and introducing more types of people and things they can do. Since then, each update has included small yet significant advancements toward representing more diverse cultures and individuals, such as women represented in professional settings, female athletes, same-sex couples, and people wearing hijabs or turbans. More recently, the group worked on making even more people feel represented and included in the emoji world. Now, we can use gender-neutral emojis, or emojis that represent people with disabilities.
Which crazy-viral TikTok can make your personality go viral?
Do you enjoy using emojis ๐ฑ, or is it all black magic to you ๐? Our emoji quiz is waiting for you, no matter what! What do you think your chances are? ๐ฏ? Give it a try! ๐ Thanks for taking the quiz ๐