Emoji (from Japanese 絵文字, read えもじ) are tiny pictures you can put as a character in text. Their appearance differs slightly between platforms.
The concept and the word both date back to early Japanese mobile phones; “emoji” means “pictogram” in Japanese. Emoji spread worldwide when the iPhone implemented the emoji keyboard, made possible by the Unicode Consortium’s efforts to combine all the world’s text encodings into one.
The word “emoji” is made of two components, 絵 (e) and 文字 (moji), meaning “picture” and “letter” respectively. Therefore, any claims that tie the word to “emoticon” are etymologically wrong.
Emoji are also not to be confused with emotes, which appear on platforms like Twitch or Discord, and do not have Unicode code points; for example, 😂 and 🍆 are emoji, while PogChamp and OmegaLUL are not.
The concept and the word both date back to early Japanese mobile phones; “emoji” means “pictogram” in Japanese. Emoji spread worldwide when the iPhone implemented the emoji keyboard, made possible by the Unicode Consortium’s efforts to combine all the world’s text encodings into one.
The word “emoji” is made of two components, 絵 (e) and 文字 (moji), meaning “picture” and “letter” respectively. Therefore, any claims that tie the word to “emoticon” are etymologically wrong.
Emoji are also not to be confused with emotes, which appear on platforms like Twitch or Discord, and do not have Unicode code points; for example, 😂 and 🍆 are emoji, while PogChamp and OmegaLUL are not.
“I’m so bored. Let’s play connect four
⚪⚪⚪⚪⚪⚪⚪
⚪⚪⚪⚪⚪⚪⚪
⚪⚪⚪⚪⚪⚪⚪
⚪⚪⚪🔵⚪⚪⚪
Use red”
“Android phones have USB-3 ports, headphone jacks, expandable storage, non-store apps, and Google Maps. iPhones can make your face an emoji.”
⚪⚪⚪⚪⚪⚪⚪
⚪⚪⚪⚪⚪⚪⚪
⚪⚪⚪⚪⚪⚪⚪
⚪⚪⚪🔵⚪⚪⚪
Use red”
“Android phones have USB-3 ports, headphone jacks, expandable storage, non-store apps, and Google Maps. iPhones can make your face an emoji.”
by cutesy pastel living doll July 1, 2020
Get the emojimug. An intelectual socio-critical piece of art addressing mental elite and exposing the dystopian US governement which attempts to create an oppressing society in order to eliminate any resistances from the kindergarten children.
"... Another prime example of modern social criticism is the Emoji Movie. The top mentally skilled authors of this artwork predicted North America's social ..."
- Patrick Star, Philosophian and evolution of Starmie
- Patrick Star, Philosophian and evolution of Starmie
by I gave up formal definitions January 12, 2018
Get the Emoji Moviemug. by tacotroupemaster December 1, 2023
Get the Skull Emojimug. ih-moh-jee-EY-shuhn
(noun)
A sequential series of emojis used as an abbreviation for an actual word, phrase, or sentence.
Word Origin: emoji + abbreviation
(noun)
A sequential series of emojis used as an abbreviation for an actual word, phrase, or sentence.
Word Origin: emoji + abbreviation
by portmanteau13 June 7, 2021
Get the emojiationmug. 
The begging emoji (🥺) Is an emoji used by 5 year olds on Twitter asking something to be free in a video game. For example: you go on Minecraft's Twitter to see what's new, you open the latest tweet and head over to the replies, and you come across a five year old asking for minecraft to be free. Really annoying.
7 year old: plzzzz make minecraft free I cant afford it 🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺
Me: you can't just ask anything for free, kid, not with all of those begging emojis
Me: you can't just ask anything for free, kid, not with all of those begging emojis
by Wolf_Gamer May 19, 2021
Get the Begging emojimug. Although the laughing emoji normality has changed through the years due to the constant use of TikTok and other platforms, we can look at some of the normal ones that have been used the most.
Some of those include the following:
2010-2020 Laughing Emoji 😂 (Also notably the word of the year in 2015 by Oxford)
2020-2021~2023 Skull Emoji 💀 (Still commonly used, but not as popular and seen as cringe by today's standards)
2021-2021 Chair Emoji 🪑 (Started as an inside joke but never caught on)
2023-2024 Sobbing Emoji (Loudly Crying Emoji) 😭 (Still used in tandem with today's laughing emojis)
2024-Present Wilting Flower Emoji + Empty Battery Emoji 🥀🪫 (Used to signify more depression than humor)
With this list, we can also observe the slight decline through the years that Gen Z has been putting in affect as the "new normal". Ever since the crying emoji in 2023, Gen Z had started basing more of their humor off of darker jokes. This can also be observed with the wilting flower and empty battery emojis as they signify weakness or sadness. One popular way it's used is as acceptance. Memes that include horrible scenarios with no way of the reader/speaker getting out is another popular scenario. Although I'm not trying to make my generation's dumb memes sound sophisticated in any way shape or form, it is interesting to see how the laughing emoji norm has changed over the years and the new humor that develops alongside it.
Some of those include the following:
2010-2020 Laughing Emoji 😂 (Also notably the word of the year in 2015 by Oxford)
2020-2021~2023 Skull Emoji 💀 (Still commonly used, but not as popular and seen as cringe by today's standards)
2021-2021 Chair Emoji 🪑 (Started as an inside joke but never caught on)
2023-2024 Sobbing Emoji (Loudly Crying Emoji) 😭 (Still used in tandem with today's laughing emojis)
2024-Present Wilting Flower Emoji + Empty Battery Emoji 🥀🪫 (Used to signify more depression than humor)
With this list, we can also observe the slight decline through the years that Gen Z has been putting in affect as the "new normal". Ever since the crying emoji in 2023, Gen Z had started basing more of their humor off of darker jokes. This can also be observed with the wilting flower and empty battery emojis as they signify weakness or sadness. One popular way it's used is as acceptance. Memes that include horrible scenarios with no way of the reader/speaker getting out is another popular scenario. Although I'm not trying to make my generation's dumb memes sound sophisticated in any way shape or form, it is interesting to see how the laughing emoji norm has changed over the years and the new humor that develops alongside it.
by mfomari March 27, 2025
Get the Laughing Emoji (Popular Consensus)mug.