The word of the year is not a word, it is an emoji – Daily News – Lisbon

The Oxford dictionaries elected as Word 2015 emoji “tears of joy”.

“For the first time the word of the year of the Oxford dictionaries is pictographic: officially, is an emoji called “face with tears of joy,” he said on Monday the British company, adding that it is not the only expression capable of representing 2015 is one that best reflects the “spirit, layout and 2015 concerns”.

Every year the publishing house, which belongs to the University of Oxford in the UK, choose the word that best represents the feelings or Year concerns and that, according to the jury, will also be a word “sustainable potential” and “cultural significance”. In order to justify the decision this year, the Oxford Dictionaries adds that use of emojis, born in the late 90 Japan, erupted in 2015. The very word emoji won a highlight that until now had failed and its use has tripled.

The emojis are symbols that are used in electronic messaging and social networks to respond to publications or show moods (happy, sad, angry, sleepy, scared and so on).

A study conducted during the year by the University of Oxford in partnership with Swiftkey allowed analyze which more symbols used and concluded that the man chosen to word of the year was the most used worldwide. In 2015, the “face with tears of joy” accounted for 20% of all emojis used in the UK and 17% in the US.

The acresditam experts that emojis are becoming a “form increasingly rich communication “for the new generations. However, the election has been widely criticized, not least because the word of the year is not a word.