Putting the Emo in Emoji
November 10, 2015 12:23 AM Subscribe
Arika Okrent (previously and previously and previously) is known here as MentalFloss.com's language maven, usually looking at linguistic history, like English language words that only survive as parts of idioms and a group trying to revive the Lakota language. But her latest short piece clearly deals with the Future of Language: Emojis. And how the depiction of emojis for certain emotions vary between different devices/systems, sppecifically Apple/iOS, Google/Android and Samsung's proprietary sub-system for the Galaxy S5.
Yes, the reaction to most of these is "WTF, Samsung?!?" Although as Emojipedia demonstrates, the weird variations extend to other specific environments, including Windows 10, Facebook and Twitter. For Heart Shaped Eyes, Samsung's overly wistful look and Google's lop-sided face are trumped by
Twitter's GIANT heart-eyes. And with other emojis, there are Monkey Faces that look more like bears, Hamster Faces that look more like mice, and Samsung's Horse Face is uncomfortably cow-like. There is disagreement whether the Pile of Poo should have a face (and its expression), and no agreement on depicting the 'Bunny Girl'. For the standard Red Heart, Samsung inexplicably added a plaid pattern, but it is the only one to have an Emoji Octopus with clearly eight legs.
Yes, the reaction to most of these is "WTF, Samsung?!?" Although as Emojipedia demonstrates, the weird variations extend to other specific environments, including Windows 10, Facebook and Twitter. For Heart Shaped Eyes, Samsung's overly wistful look and Google's lop-sided face are trumped by
Twitter's GIANT heart-eyes. And with other emojis, there are Monkey Faces that look more like bears, Hamster Faces that look more like mice, and Samsung's Horse Face is uncomfortably cow-like. There is disagreement whether the Pile of Poo should have a face (and its expression), and no agreement on depicting the 'Bunny Girl'. For the standard Red Heart, Samsung inexplicably added a plaid pattern, but it is the only one to have an Emoji Octopus with clearly eight legs.
Samsung's Horse Face is uncomfortably cow-like.
Meanwhile, the Emoji One horse face looks like it's seen some shit.
posted by Mr. Bad Example at 1:24 AM on November 10, 2015 [9 favorites]
Meanwhile, the Emoji One horse face looks like it's seen some shit.
posted by Mr. Bad Example at 1:24 AM on November 10, 2015 [9 favorites]
My favorite thing today: the way that the official name of the regular old red heart is Heavy Black Heart.
All this time, that's what I've been recklessly texting. My heavy, heavy black heart.
posted by rokusan at 2:25 AM on November 10, 2015 [3 favorites]
All this time, that's what I've been recklessly texting. My heavy, heavy black heart.
posted by rokusan at 2:25 AM on November 10, 2015 [3 favorites]
Arika Okrent's fourth post in the blue and nobody's mentioned that her uncle invented fantasy baseball?
I come here for trivia, people.
posted by rokusan at 2:32 AM on November 10, 2015 [4 favorites]
I come here for trivia, people.
posted by rokusan at 2:32 AM on November 10, 2015 [4 favorites]
The Emoji One horse face looks like it's seen some shit.
Definitely Bojackiest.
posted by rokusan at 2:35 AM on November 10, 2015 [4 favorites]
Definitely Bojackiest.
posted by rokusan at 2:35 AM on November 10, 2015 [4 favorites]
Samsung, as usual, appear to be trying a little too hard.
posted by acb at 2:41 AM on November 10, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by acb at 2:41 AM on November 10, 2015 [1 favorite]
" Future of Language: Emojis"
Not in my house.
posted by GallonOfAlan at 2:55 AM on November 10, 2015 [1 favorite]
Not in my house.
posted by GallonOfAlan at 2:55 AM on November 10, 2015 [1 favorite]
The Google emoji seems to spend most of its time pooping.
posted by ardgedee at 3:45 AM on November 10, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by ardgedee at 3:45 AM on November 10, 2015 [1 favorite]
TIL: There's a new middle finger emoji:๐
posted by double block and bleed at 3:49 AM on November 10, 2015
posted by double block and bleed at 3:49 AM on November 10, 2015
A lot of the fossilised words have cognates in other Germanic languages. โEkeโ seems to be cognate to the Swedish word โรถkaโ, and I think โwendโ has a cognate in German.
posted by acb at 4:04 AM on November 10, 2015
posted by acb at 4:04 AM on November 10, 2015
i think the hairy heart emoji was an early case of this sort of cross-platform confusion, interesting to see how much has (or hasn't) changed since then
posted by frijole at 4:25 AM on November 10, 2015
posted by frijole at 4:25 AM on November 10, 2015
Related: "I suddenly realise that how I evaluate typefaces is completely wrong for the modern age"
posted by oulipian at 4:25 AM on November 10, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by oulipian at 4:25 AM on November 10, 2015 [1 favorite]
You know, how lol, and wtf have wandered into standard conversation nowadays? I'm not sure why, but I'm petty sure some day my 4 year old will look at me and tell me why horseface is the appropriate emoji for the noment.
On the plus side, each emoji does have a pretty binary meaning, which I think if used unironically could help some folks with autism better navigate emotions.
posted by Nanukthedog at 4:31 AM on November 10, 2015
On the plus side, each emoji does have a pretty binary meaning, which I think if used unironically could help some folks with autism better navigate emotions.
posted by Nanukthedog at 4:31 AM on November 10, 2015
My niece and I sometimes text each other. She's three, so they're not the most productive conversations. Here's a recent sampling of things she has written to me:
posted by jacquilynne at 5:51 AM on November 10, 2015 [5 favorites]
MmuyyyyyuuuuBut now I'm all worried that the things she meant to say to me aren't the things that I received. From the comparison charts, it looks like she sent me 14 iOS happy piles of poo and one iOS cheerful alien, which is a very different message from the 14 deeply nervous Samsung piles of poo and one Samsung pissed off alien that I received.
๐ฉ๐ฉ๐ฝ๐ฉ๐ฉ๐ฉ๐ฉ๐ฉ๐ฉ๐ฉ๐ฉ๐ฉ๐ฉ๐ฉ๐ฉ๐พ๐พ๐พ๐พ๐พ๐บ๐โจ
๐ซ๐ฐ๐ค
Ok,oYyjhljhl. Hana
๐ฅ๐ท๐ฌ๐ฎ๐๐๐๐๐๐ฐ๐๐
๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ณ๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ฌ๐๐๐๐ ๐ฌ๐ฌ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐
๐ผ๐ญ๐ญ๐ญ๐๐๐๐ณ๐ฌ๐ฌ๐๐
๐โ๏ธ๐๐๐โจ๏ธโจ๏ธ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ฅ
posted by jacquilynne at 5:51 AM on November 10, 2015 [5 favorites]
i think the hairy heart emoji was an early case of this sort of cross-platform confusion
"That night he pictured the removal of his hairy heart and to the accompaniment of very romantic music he watched it being shaved smooth by an anonymous stainless steel razor. . . . "
"As I cuddled the porcupine
He said I had none to blame, but me
Held my heart, deep in hair
Time to shave, shave it off, it off . . . "
-- P. Gabriel
posted by Herodios at 6:28 AM on November 10, 2015 [1 favorite]
"That night he pictured the removal of his hairy heart and to the accompaniment of very romantic music he watched it being shaved smooth by an anonymous stainless steel razor. . . . "
"As I cuddled the porcupine
He said I had none to blame, but me
Held my heart, deep in hair
Time to shave, shave it off, it off . . . "
-- P. Gabriel
posted by Herodios at 6:28 AM on November 10, 2015 [1 favorite]
" Future of Language: Emojis"
Not in my house.
Yeah, the teenager in my house doesn't use emojis, nor do her friends. My 73-year-old mother, however...
posted by Huck500 at 6:52 AM on November 10, 2015 [4 favorites]
Not in my house.
Yeah, the teenager in my house doesn't use emojis, nor do her friends. My 73-year-old mother, however...
posted by Huck500 at 6:52 AM on November 10, 2015 [4 favorites]
This will wend.
posted by Segundus at 7:49 AM on November 10, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by Segundus at 7:49 AM on November 10, 2015 [1 favorite]
> Samsung's Horse Face is uncomfortably cow-like.
Mais oui! Vachement!
posted by benito.strauss at 8:02 AM on November 10, 2015
Mais oui! Vachement!
posted by benito.strauss at 8:02 AM on November 10, 2015
Behind the FPPs: Earlier, I was seriously considering doing a post for the "12 Old Words that Survived by Getting Fossilized in Idioms" article alone but nixed it thinking everyone would assume I did it because of 'Wend'. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have an appointment I must wendell my way to...
posted by oneswellfoop at 9:40 AM on November 10, 2015
posted by oneswellfoop at 9:40 AM on November 10, 2015
We still use the original past tense of wend, it just went and shacked up with a new verb.
posted by doiheartwentyone at 10:04 AM on November 10, 2015
posted by doiheartwentyone at 10:04 AM on November 10, 2015
ok so I only read the emoji ones ๐
posted by doiheartwentyone at 10:09 AM on November 10, 2015
posted by doiheartwentyone at 10:09 AM on November 10, 2015
This is one of the reasons I don't like emoji.
posted by Chrysostom at 3:02 PM on November 11, 2015
posted by Chrysostom at 3:02 PM on November 11, 2015
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