We often use emojis to convey a feeling and there's a particular emoji for most of those emotions. Given the increasing number of emojis, sometimes we even struggle to find the right one. That said, emojis have become a significant part of our written communication. They are an outcome of the most recent evolution of the human language as most people communicate over electronic devices and via social media platforms now. These emojis attempt to fill in a gap when communication happens virtually. Thus, to celebrate these humble characters, the world celebrates Emoji Day on July 17.
The word “emoji” is a portmanteau, meaning it is made up of two different words, both of them Japanese: 'e' for picture and ‘moji' for the character.
Significance
One way of understanding their wide use is that there's a verified Twitter handle for World Emoji Day. It shared a video of Dr Christina Sevdali, a senior lecturer of linguistics at Northern Ireland-based Ulster University, outlining how these pictorial characters have become a part of our daily communication.
Happy World Emoji Day!
— Ulster University (@UlsterUni) July 17, 2021
Dr Christina Sevdali senior lecture of linguistics at UU, explains to us about the evolution of language and just how important emojis are in todays' world.#WeAreUU #WorldEmojiDay pic.twitter.com/P62ibYKQyy
History
Since the Calendar emoji displays July 17 as the date, it was decided that the day would be celebrated as World Emoji Day by Jeremy Burge, the founder of Emojipedia, a repository of almost all the emojis available today. The first World Emoji Day was celebrated in 2014 and after that, it became an annual feature.
Celebration
With the event gaining popularity over the years, many people and organisations have started tweeting to mark the day.
In its message on Twitter, UNESCO shared the word “peace” using several emojis.
Our message for #WorldEmojiDay:
— UNESCO ????️ #Education #Sciences #Culture ???????????? (@UNESCO) July 17, 2021
☮️☮️☮️
☮️ ☮️
☮️☮️☮️
☮️
☮️
☮️☮️☮️
☮️
☮️☮️☮️
☮️
☮️☮️☮️
☮️☮️
☮️ ☮️
☮️ ☮️
☮️☮️☮️
☮️ ☮️
☮️☮️☮️
☮️
☮️
☮️
☮️☮️☮️
☮️☮️☮️
☮️
☮️☮️☮️
☮️
☮️☮️☮️
The United Nations shared emojis depicting all “the peoples” of the world and urged everyone to stand up for human rights.
???????? ”We the peoples...” ????????
— United Nations (@UN) July 17, 2021
The UN works for everyone, everywhere -- by helping tackle the #COVID19 crisis, promoting peace & security, striving to achieve the #GlobalGoals, and urging all people to #StandUp4HumanRights. https://t.co/917HhoriT9 #WorldEmojiDay pic.twitter.com/5mlKNEdss1
Football club Juventus shared a clip, asking users to identify the players behind the emoji faces.
If our Bianconeri were emojis ????????
— JuventusFC (@juventusfcen) July 17, 2021
???? Can you guess which players are under the emoji faces? #WorldEmojiDay pic.twitter.com/bxORcYk3ll
IPL franchise Chennai Super Kings asked its fans to tell it about their “emoji-tion” today.
What is your emoji-tion today?????????????????
— Chennai Super Kings - Mask P????du Whistle P????du! (@ChennaiIPL) July 17, 2021
Tell us below ⬇️#WorldEmojiDay #WhistlePodu #Yellove ???????? pic.twitter.com/0b4X1eobXz
Upcoming emojis
Finally, Emojipedia has some good news for those who have not yet found the right emoji to express themselves. It has disclosed a list of emojis that are lined up for release in 2021-22. They may include a saluting face, biting lip, coral and a low battery. Other emojis in the draft list are consistent gender options for pregnancy and royalty, 'heart hands', and 15 different handshake combinations.
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