Emojis (those small digital icons that express emotion) have taken over the English Language. When I was growing up there were only a few symbols at my disposal – O’s and X’s, placed at the end of a note or letter to express “hugs and kisses.” It’s all that was needed. We used words for everything else.
Then, along came an advertising genius with the heart symbol. It replaced the word, “Love” as in I “heart” New York. Mostly a lie, but it stuck. Then came a few Emoticons, smiley faces and the like created from punctuation marks on a standard keyboard. For the most part, we communicated using words, not symbols.
In 1999 the Emoji was invented, just as text messaging was just going mainstream. A marriage made in heaven. As of the end of 2020, there were 3,136 Emojis. That number is expected to grow to 3,353 by the end of 2021. My problem is, I can’t decipher their meaning. I’m symbol understanding challenged, for the most past anyhow. And, how can anyone need to express 3,000 or more emotions? I can only come up with a handful that are of use to me, such as happiness, anger, disappointment, shock, sadness, guilt, puzzlement and the like. Puzzlement is one I use a lot, especially when getting a text loaded with Emojis.
We will be back to Hieroglyphics (the written language of ancient Egypt) if this trend keeps up. Apparently, that Egyptian form of writing was even more confusing than today’s Emojis. The meaning of the picture symbols remained a mystery for thousands of years. It was only dumb luck that led to breaking the Hieroglyphic code. It happened when one of Napoleon’s soldiers stumbled across the Rosetta Stone on July, 19, 1799. Our historical record will eventually be written entirely in Emojis at the rate the number of symbols is growing. I pity archeologists of the distant future, unearthing our civilizations and trying to understand the written language.
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