Emoji

An emoji 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. Some examples of emoji are 😂, 😃, 🧘🏻‍♂️, 🌍, 🍞, 🚗, 📞, 🎉, ❤️, 🍆, and 🏁. Emoji exist in various genres, including facial expressions, common objects, places and types of weather, and animals. They are much like emoticons, but emoji are pictures rather than typographic approximations; the term "emoji" in the strict sense refers to such pictures which can be represented as encoded characters, but it is sometimes applied to messaging stickers by extension. Originally meaning pictograph, the word emoji comes from Japanese e + moji; the resemblance to the English words emotion and emoticon is purely coincidental. The ISO 15924 script code for emoji is Zsye.

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We're Pretty Good at Decoding an Emoji, Even When It's Not a Perfect Match For a Word

This is how we understand emoji

Emoji are proposed as a powerful way for patients and doctors to communicate