In 1999, NTT DOCOMO, a Japanese cell phone company, released a set of 176 emojis for use with mobile phones and pagers. The word 'Emoji' is the blend of two Japanese words - picture and letter. It's a pure coincidence that “emoji” sounds like it was derived from the English word “emotion'.
We have all got used to using emojis on our phones and social media and most of them seem pretty obvious in their meaning. They are usually used as a bit of fun and because of their rich emotional meanings, emojis are often used to express emotions in online communication. I find they are very useful to use as confirmation of feelings as often such sentiments can be lost in pure text (specially short ones) and the exact feeling behind any statement can be misconstrued. I use them all the time!
In fact it's now hard to imagine life without emojis!
But you have to be careful how you use them as you wouldn't want your underlying emotional state to be taken the wrong way due to a careless mistake in selecting the wrong face! It can get quite complicated...
I have found a website telling us exactly what to use when - Click Here.
And if you are really stuck you can always use the Emojipedia to find the right stamp!
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