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July 17th is World Emoji Day
Exciting, isn’t it?
Right up there with those 24 hours dedicated to ballpoint pens or the much under-celebrated “lima bean respect” day.
We are a nation of texters and messagers, anything other than real talk it seems and, like many people, I am fluent in emoji. If a picture is worth a thousand words, then the addition of these tiny totems can turn my text into, if not quite a full- blown novel, then certainly a novella.
When I use these modern-day hieroglyphs, I don’t hold back and my messages are liberally scat-tered with hearts, like little showers of affection. The emoji Kate, it seems, is the best version of me, although I do make frequent use of the eyeroll too in case you’re thinking that the glasses on my perfectly symmetrical face are completely rose-tinted!
In addition to allowing me to love often and indiscriminately, these Japanese symbols have also on occasion given me the opportunity to completely embarrass myself.
Who hasn’t sent a kiss to their boss, or the offer of a romantic night (or worse) to their mother- in- law. I can feel a flushed faced emoji coming on even as I write this.
It makes me think of a friend of mine who, not quite in touch with her emoticons, regularly uses LOL as lots of love rather than laughing out loud; “Elizabeth is in hospital LOL,” or “Dave’s car was stolen LOL”.
Visual language
The word emoji is a direct translation from the Japanese “picture character”, and has evolved faster than any other form of communication with American professor of linguistics Vyv Evans telling us that, “As a visual language it has already far eclipsed hieroglyphics, its ancient Egyptian precursor which took centuries to develop.”
Based on symbols from Japanese comics, this international language, successful with young and old, is a great way of expressing emotions in the absence of body language.
Originally known as emoticons, those expressions were made out of colons, brackets and other punctuation on our keyboards, with the emojis we use today becoming part of our lives more than a decade ago thanks to an Apple operating system they introduced in 2012.
These modern days totems haven’t improved all areas of life though and their impact on main-stream literature has been, well, more like a face hiding behind both hands than one of celebration.
The version of Moby Dick written entirely in symbols and called Emoji Dick, was only eclipsed by OMG Shakespeare, the Penguin series of classics for young teens which saw A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Macbeth and Hamlet told through text on the smartphones of the characters; and as for Romeo, well, let’s hope he can make things work with YOLO Juliet.
So, to these small yellow faced characters that allow me to express myself so easily, I’m going to raise a virtual toast on their special day. Possibly with two on-screen pint glasses clinking, or maybe even a fizzing uncorked bottle of virtual champagne... but definitely with a big red heart.
About Kate: More often heard on RTÉ Radio One getting “A Word In Edgeways”, Kate is excited to be sharing her thoughts with readers of Irish Country Living. Editor of The Muskerry News and Kenmare News, Kate loves dogs, gardening and writing, in no particular order.
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