If you were wondering if the day would come when the emoji would get its rightful recognition, that day has arrived. "The Face Crying Tears of Joy" emoji has been chosen as the 2015 Word of the Year by Oxford Dictionaries. :) It's the first time a pictograph rather than an actual word has been chosen.

Who knew that piece of you know what and a puking face would become part of everyday life for all of the world. Here are a few facts. Did you know emojis, previously called emotioncons, have been around since the early 1990's? The use of the world has tripled in the past twenty years, no doubt due to the trusty smartphone, and various chat applications. What's even more popular, especially with the millenial crowd, is texting your friends, family, etc. just using emojis. About a month ago, the iPhone's IOS operating system added a string of long awaited emojis including, the taco, the eye roll (I've been using it A LOT!), the unicorn, and just in time for Thanksgiving, the turkey!

The crying tears of joy emoji beat out a short list of eight other words that have grown in popularity this year. "On fleek" is my personal favorite. It means something is really good, on point so to speak. Lumbersexual, is defined as a "young urban man who cultivates an appearance and style of dress suggestive of an outdoor lifestyle", mind the beards and flannel shirts. Another one of my favorites is Dark Web, which is a "part of the internet only accessible by means of special software, allowing users and website operators to remain anonymous or untraceable.

Better luck next year selfie stick.

 

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