Is πŸ˜‚ a word?

Posted on December 8, 2015 | 2 Comments

My latest article for The Week looks at emoji and emoticons – little icons of facial expressions and gestures and objects – and asks two important linguistic questions: Are they words? And if so, what kind of words are they?

Is an emoji a word? Β―\_(ツ)_/Β―

This entry was posted in The Week and tagged , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

2 responses to “Is πŸ˜‚ a word?”

  2. Peter Perryman's avatar Peter Perryman | December 10, 2015 at 12:37 pm | Reply

    I am reminded of a poem titled Appeal to the Grammarians by the American poet Paul Violi. It begins, “We, the naturally hopeful,/ Need a simple sign/For the myriad ways we’re capsized./We who love precise language/Need a finer way to convey/Disappointment and perplexity.

    You can find the full text on the Poetry Foundation website http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/249348

Leave a comment