On Thursday 23rd March we had a look at the topic of “emojis”, the little images which spice up e-mails Facebook messages and WhatsApps.
An emoji (/ɪˈmoʊdʒiː/ i-MOH-jee; plural emoji or emojis) is a pictogram, logogram, ideogram or smiley embedded in text and used in electronic messages and web pages. The primary function of emoji is to fill in emotional cues otherwise missing from typed conversation. They were created in Japan in 1990. e-mail was limited to 250 characters and an emoji could express a complex phrase or feeling in one character.
The word emoji comes from Japanese e (絵, ‘picture’) + moji (文字, ‘character’) – so it’s nothing to do with emotion, unlike emoticons (emotion icon) which were commonly used in e-mails etc in the late 80’s early ‘90’s. Tilt your head to the left to see the little faces and expressions..
Later without noses:
Symbols were introduced to the computer keyboard with fonts called Wingdings and Dingbats
These, are Unicode symbols. The unicode standard is used by computers to encode text expressed n most of the world’s writing systems, and by extension to encode additional symbols. The standard is maintained by the Unicode Consortium, California-based nonprofit. As of the current version (15.0) it defines 149,186 characters…including emojis!
In 2015 the emoji “face with tears of joy” was the Oxford dictionaries Word of the Year!
Mobile providers wanted people to be able to use them, and over the years they have become more standardised and now include colour. There has also been an increase in the number of approved emojis which are created by the public then submitted for approval. Until recently little guidance was offered beyond a name and a black and white illustration. So every individual operating system needed to design its own emoji because the little glyphs are copyrighted.
In 2017, WhatsApp copied Apple’s emojis, but still confusion reigns!: Facebook and Messenger now use one unique emoji set (unless you’re on iOS), WhatsApp uses a second (if you’re running the Android beta) and Instagram uses whatever the default is on the phone.
Check out https://emojipedia.org To search for and find out what emojis mean.
Let us look at some of the hand signal emojis, mis-use of which may land you in hot water!!
The love-you gesture or I love you hand sign emoji is the American Sign Language gesture for “I love you,” showing a hand with a raised index finger and pinky (little) finger and an extended thumb.
The shaka sign, sometimes known as “hang loose” or “right on”, is a gesture with friendly intent often associated with Hawaii and surf culture. …or … I’ll ring you!
The horns hand sign is problematic !!
In pop culture it is usually associated with rock music The gesture is associated with the phrase “rock on” and can be used humorously or sarcastically to tell someone you think – or they think – that they are a rebel. But can mean many things in different cultures! In many Mediterranean and Latin countries, such as Colombia, Greece, Italy, Portugal, Spain and Mexico, when directed towards someone, pointed upward, and/or swivelled back and forth, the sign offensively implies cuckoldry in regard to the targeted individual; the common words for cuckolded in Greek, Italian, Spanish, and Portuguese are, respectively, κερατάς (keratas), cornuto, cornudo and corno, literally meaning “horned [one]”. ..however, the sign, often when pointing downwards, but occasionally also upwards, can serve also as a talismanic gesture to ward off bad luck
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sign_of_the_horns
The Vulcan salute – It only makes sense to Star Trek fans! “live long and prosper”
A thumbs-up gesture indicating approval. However, in certain contexts, the use of the Thumbs Up emoji can be construed as being passive-aggressive or sarcastic. Despite this possible use, it remains a popular means of quickly and earnestly expressing approval. It seems to have fallen out of favour with younger generations…
✌️ The Victory Hand
Most commonly known as a Peace Sign, but traditionally called as a Victory Hand. Two fingers held up on one hand making a V sign (as per Churchill). The reverse of this symbol is considered an offensive gesture in British culture, similar to giving the middle finger in US culture
Two hands raised in the air, celebrating success or another joyous event. It was originally animated to show hands being raised, as might be done along with the the exclamation Banzai! in Japan. It now more commonly only shows the hands in the air.
Two hands placed firmly together, meaning please or thank you in Japanese culture. A common alternative use for this emoji is for prayer, using the same gesture as praying hands. It can also represent a respectful greeting or show of adoration many in Southeast Asian religions and cultures, such as the Hindu namaste or Buddhist añjali mudra.
It is rarely used as a high-five, despite often being suggested as one. Here’s a detailed investigation!
https://blog.emojipedia.org/emojiology-folded-hands/
Crossed fingers: – Commonly used as a gesture indicating luck, or to show the desire of a favourable outcome. However, The use of the gesture is often considered by children as an excuse for telling a white lie. By extension, a similar belief is that crossing one’s fingers invalidates a promise being made. In Vietnam the gesture is considered rude, especially to another person. Referring to female genitals, it is comparable to the middle finger in American culture. In German-speaking countries and also Sweden and Latvia the gesture is a sign of lying. …so be careful who you send this one to!
This is very Gen Z – it means “Simp mode” – i.e. that the person is suffering from unrequited love, or is simply very shy!
The OK hand emoji has a range of meanings: It can stand in for the word OK, (or the OK hand gesture as used by SCUBA divers), communicate strong approval, mark sarcasm. It can also be combined with another hand emoji to represent sex. While it has many harmless meanings, it was co-opted as a white supremacist symbol in the late 2010s in the US…
A hand with the index finger and thumb crossed and the rest of the fingers making a fist. Can be used in various contexts to represent the fingers snapping, love, or money. This gesture is traditionally used in the context of money to indicate a luxury or an expensive item, a lack of money, or a request to be paid.
Note that the index finger and the thumb form a small heart shape. This gesture, used to express love or affection, is known as a finger heart and was popularized in the 2010s by South Korean celebrities, including actors, K-pop stars, and comedians.
……and its not just hand signs which can cause problems !
Be careful who you send aubergines to! A long, bright purple eggplant, or aubergine shown with a leafy stem. It is considered lucky in Japan to dream of an eggplant the first night of the New Year. However it is widely used to represent a penis. Due to its phallic use, the hashtag #🍆 was once banned (2015) on Instagram’s search function.
…and watch out for racial sensitivities! Here’s a version of the “nerd” emoji”
A smiling yellow face with glasses, often with teeth showing, originally buck teeth on most platforms. While this emoji is often used by people calling themselves nerds in a self-deprecating way, the nerdy glasses paired with buck teeth can evoke anti-Asian stereotypes. The fact that the default colour of emoji faces is yellow further pushes this emoji into racist “yellowface” territory.
Some platforms have redesigned nerd face over time to not have buck teeth, perhaps in acknowledgement of the offence this imagery may cause. Google, Facebook, and JoyPixels originally featured designs with buck teeth but have since changed (or completely removed) the teeth on nerd faces.
Apple, Twitter, Microsoft, Samsung, WhatsApp, and other platforms still use designs for this emoji that include buck teeth. WhatsApp has just changed its nerd to have squiffy glasses.
Note: The default colour for hand and face emojis is yellow, however, users now have a choice of skin colours, especially for the hands.
Here are some of the new 578 emojis in the pipeline
A lime
A mushroom with non-poisonous coloring
A broken chain
A nodding face, to indicate agreement
A face shaking side-to-side, as if to say “no”
A phoenix
Emojis are everywhere – Twitter has been sending the press “poop” emojis:
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2023/mar/23/twitter-elon-musk-poop-emoji
..and 3D emojis appear in advertisements: https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/3d-emoji
Chris Betterton-Jones – Knowledge Junkie