<![CDATA[🧐 #AMA on #emojis for #WorldEmojiDay ❗ #linguistics]]>🧐 on for ❗

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/topic/1bda803c-f326-420b-a8ab-460f23729a63/ama-on-emojis-for-worldemojiday-linguisticsRSS for NodeMon, 27 Jul 2026 12:45:35 GMTFri, 17 Jul 2026 15:15:15 GMT60<![CDATA[Reply to 🧐 #AMA on #emojis for #WorldEmojiDay ❗ #linguistics on Fri, 17 Jul 2026 19:17:59 GMT]]>Another famous case is the grimacing face 😬 (which I personally like a lot). Initially its design varied widely between platforms: It looked like a toothy (but happy) grin 😁 on some platforms, but like the pained grimace on others - so there was a lot of potential for misunderstanding. In such a case, the design is then usually adapted in a later version to get a better match with other platforms.

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://fediscience.org/users/tschfflr/statuses/116936925494336994https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://fediscience.org/users/tschfflr/statuses/116936925494336994Fri, 17 Jul 2026 19:17:59 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to 🧐 #AMA on #emojis for #WorldEmojiDay ❗ #linguistics on Fri, 17 Jul 2026 19:10:53 GMT]]>"Some designs of emojis are very different for the same codepoint, especially the ones depicting emotions/reactions. Examples coming to mind are 😨, πŸ”«. What are your thoughts on this?" - The (water) pistol πŸ”« was originally a hand gun which looked a lot more real. In response to its frequent use in criminal or other unsavory contexts (e.g., as a threat), most platforms replaced it with the colorful plastic toy gun design in 2018. (In 2024, Elon Musk had it turned back into a realistic hand gun for the Twemoji design πŸ™„)
I'm torn. On the one hand, I don't think we can stay on top of all potential uses of emojis (or should even try to limit them) and people who want to use emojis for threats probably can still do so. On the other hand, I do find it rather hard to imagine that the green plastic πŸ”« could be used as a threat... so... I guess good job, designers/tech firms?
https://emojipedia.org/pistol#designs

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://fediscience.org/users/tschfflr/statuses/116936897561666622https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://fediscience.org/users/tschfflr/statuses/116936897561666622Fri, 17 Jul 2026 19:10:53 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to 🧐 #AMA on #emojis for #WorldEmojiDay ❗ #linguistics on Fri, 17 Jul 2026 18:55:24 GMT]]>@tschfflr Some designs of emojis are very different (not just depending on platform but even between versions) for the same codepoint, especially the ones depicting emotions/reactions. Examples coming to mind are 😨, πŸ”«. What are your thoughts on this?

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.social/users/gheja/statuses/116936836694113079https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.social/users/gheja/statuses/116936836694113079Fri, 17 Jul 2026 18:55:24 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to 🧐 #AMA on #emojis for #WorldEmojiDay ❗ #linguistics on Fri, 17 Jul 2026 18:45:30 GMT]]>β€œDo you think emojis will ever become part of formal language? Are we going to see emojis in laws or letters from the pension fund?” - Emojis are mainly used in informal language, because (or that’s why?) one of their main functions is to signal closeness, familiarity and a lack of hierarchy between the conversation participants. This is also the reason why a lack of emojis from a personal chat message may trigger questions like β€œwhat have I done?!”, because it could signal that the friendly relationship is disturbed. So I think emojis wouldn’t be used in legal code. But in official letters, maybe! I once received an email from a university administrator with a ☺️ and I appreciated it a lot.

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://fediscience.org/users/tschfflr/statuses/116936797770166720https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://fediscience.org/users/tschfflr/statuses/116936797770166720Fri, 17 Jul 2026 18:45:30 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to 🧐 #AMA on #emojis for #WorldEmojiDay ❗ #linguistics on Fri, 17 Jul 2026 18:35:10 GMT]]>β€œIf you were an emoji, what emoji would you be?” - Hm, I think I’d pick πŸ‘©β€πŸ’» because that represents how I spend my days the best.
Representation and diversity is an important topic when it comes to emojis. Studies show that the skin tone modifiers πŸ€·πŸ»β€β™€οΈπŸ€·πŸΌβ€β™€οΈπŸ€·πŸ½β€β™€οΈπŸ€·πŸΎβ€β™€οΈπŸ€·πŸΏβ€β™€οΈ are primarily used for self representation. And many groups had to fight for their emojis: hijabi women, people with disabilities, redheads, people with curly hair. It is still difficult to show β€œall” of society in emojis, because human diversity is much more variable than we can show in little pictures: Where I can just say β€œfamily” in English and may mean many different constellations, in an emoji I’d have to decide on the number, gender and skin color of all the family members, and that doesn’t even begin to cover all the facets. A real language is much more flexible that way.

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://fediscience.org/users/tschfflr/statuses/116936757128138398https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://fediscience.org/users/tschfflr/statuses/116936757128138398Fri, 17 Jul 2026 18:35:10 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to 🧐 #AMA on #emojis for #WorldEmojiDay ❗ #linguistics on Fri, 17 Jul 2026 18:16:00 GMT]]>@tschfflr Indeed. I especially appreciate how it’s corpus-driven, building on observations of how (French) signers actually do note taking.
(edit: typo)

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://fediscience.org/users/MarcSchulder/statuses/116936681722893998https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://fediscience.org/users/MarcSchulder/statuses/116936681722893998Fri, 17 Jul 2026 18:16:00 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to 🧐 #AMA on #emojis for #WorldEmojiDay ❗ #linguistics on Fri, 17 Jul 2026 18:13:14 GMT]]>@MarcSchulder cool!

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://fediscience.org/users/tschfflr/statuses/116936670858823573https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://fediscience.org/users/tschfflr/statuses/116936670858823573Fri, 17 Jul 2026 18:13:14 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to 🧐 #AMA on #emojis for #WorldEmojiDay ❗ #linguistics on Fri, 17 Jul 2026 18:08:41 GMT]]>@tschfflr Speaking of writing systems and emoji, based on how sign language users would sketch when taking notes for a signed presentation or planning their own, Michael Filhol proposed a notation for sign utterances that focuses on semantics rather than phonology. It involves the use of emoji-like elements for semantic concepts that can then be slotted into relational structures, (all of which can then be converted into an established formalism for Avatar-based outputs, too).
Source: https://www.sign-lang.uni-hamburg.de/lrec/pub/24016.html

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://fediscience.org/users/MarcSchulder/statuses/116936652979575550https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://fediscience.org/users/MarcSchulder/statuses/116936652979575550Fri, 17 Jul 2026 18:08:41 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to 🧐 #AMA on #emojis for #WorldEmojiDay ❗ #linguistics on Fri, 17 Jul 2026 17:59:57 GMT]]>@tschfflr If you were an emoji, what emoji would you be and why? 🧐

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.social/users/relasolmi/statuses/116936618662386481https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.social/users/relasolmi/statuses/116936618662386481Fri, 17 Jul 2026 17:59:57 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to 🧐 #AMA on #emojis for #WorldEmojiDay ❗ #linguistics on Fri, 17 Jul 2026 17:42:02 GMT]]>@tschfflr Interessant, dass es "EichkΓ€tzchen" sagt. Dieses Wort kannte ich bisher nur im Dialekt, aus sΓΌdlicherer Region.

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodonapp.uk/users/SophiaFree/statuses/116936548179938006https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodonapp.uk/users/SophiaFree/statuses/116936548179938006Fri, 17 Jul 2026 17:42:02 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to 🧐 #AMA on #emojis for #WorldEmojiDay ❗ #linguistics on Fri, 17 Jul 2026 17:24:37 GMT]]>@tschfflr love the thread! Do you think emojis will ever become part of formal language? Are we going to see emojis in laws or letters from the pension fund?

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.nl/users/venite/statuses/116936479679082303https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.nl/users/venite/statuses/116936479679082303Fri, 17 Jul 2026 17:24:37 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to 🧐 #AMA on #emojis for #WorldEmojiDay ❗ #linguistics on Fri, 17 Jul 2026 17:10:52 GMT]]>"is there (still) a lot of use of "signage" emojis like πŸͺ or even more abstract πŸ›…?" - These complex ones are not so frequently used. BUT emojis are often used for signs in real life (= meat world, not digitally). I have a huge collection of photos I put together with the help of students. I think emojis are particularly good for this because such signs are often about rules, what we're not allowed to do or supposed to do. And emojis "soften" this face-threat (being told what to do) a bit, by being cute and colorful and generally perceived as positive.

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://fediscience.org/users/tschfflr/statuses/116936425652541728https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://fediscience.org/users/tschfflr/statuses/116936425652541728Fri, 17 Jul 2026 17:10:52 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to 🧐 #AMA on #emojis for #WorldEmojiDay ❗ #linguistics on Fri, 17 Jul 2026 17:07:12 GMT]]>Is emoji interpretation just a "fun" summer topic, or does emoji misinterpretation ever become serious, like in court discussions? - In face there have been several cases both in North America and Europe where emoji meanings were negotiated in court! I keep a collection of them because it's a nice intersection with my alter ego, the "forensic" linguist. For example, in cases from Canada and Bavaria, judges had to decide whether a thumbs-up πŸ‘ in a chat was meant as a signal of agreement (to a contract or contract amendment), or whether (like the senders argued) it constituted only an acknowledgement of receipt of the message. In both cases, the context was super important - how did the parties interact before, what else was said in the chat, etc. Interesting!

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://fediscience.org/users/tschfflr/statuses/116936411190231809https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://fediscience.org/users/tschfflr/statuses/116936411190231809Fri, 17 Jul 2026 17:07:12 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to 🧐 #AMA on #emojis for #WorldEmojiDay ❗ #linguistics on Fri, 17 Jul 2026 17:07:04 GMT]]>@tschfflr @Kuchenschwarte Google has a set of animated emoji, and their designer has written about the unique design challenges
https://googlefonts.github.io/noto-emoji-animation/ https://jenniferdaniel.substack.com/p/emoji-that-can-dance

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://social.vivaldi.net/ap/users/116462826788334877/statuses/116936410723235747https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://social.vivaldi.net/ap/users/116462826788334877/statuses/116936410723235747Fri, 17 Jul 2026 17:07:04 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to 🧐 #AMA on #emojis for #WorldEmojiDay ❗ #linguistics on Fri, 17 Jul 2026 17:06:39 GMT]]>@tschfflr is there (still) a lot of use of "signage" emojis like πŸͺ or even more abstract πŸ›…?

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://chaos.social/users/jollysea/statuses/116936409085927641https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://chaos.social/users/jollysea/statuses/116936409085927641Fri, 17 Jul 2026 17:06:39 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to 🧐 #AMA on #emojis for #WorldEmojiDay ❗ #linguistics on Fri, 17 Jul 2026 16:59:50 GMT]]>@Kuchenschwarte 🀭

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://fediscience.org/users/tschfflr/statuses/116936382266476253https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://fediscience.org/users/tschfflr/statuses/116936382266476253Fri, 17 Jul 2026 16:59:50 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to 🧐 #AMA on #emojis for #WorldEmojiDay ❗ #linguistics on Fri, 17 Jul 2026 16:59:18 GMT]]>@tschfflr or probably one meaning - but not exactly the one intended... πŸ˜…

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://fnordon.de/users/Kuchenschwarte/statuses/116936380168622064https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://fnordon.de/users/Kuchenschwarte/statuses/116936380168622064Fri, 17 Jul 2026 16:59:18 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to 🧐 #AMA on #emojis for #WorldEmojiDay ❗ #linguistics on Fri, 17 Jul 2026 16:58:32 GMT]]>Does being an emoji researcher make me more wary to use them - like am I watching my emoji use all the time? - I'd say the opposite is true, I feel more free and whimsical in using emojis, as I see them all the time in different contexts, and I can easily pretend to just use them ironically or "for work" 🀩

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://fediscience.org/users/tschfflr/statuses/116936377144071922https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://fediscience.org/users/tschfflr/statuses/116936377144071922Fri, 17 Jul 2026 16:58:32 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to 🧐 #AMA on #emojis for #WorldEmojiDay ❗ #linguistics on Fri, 17 Jul 2026 16:58:01 GMT]]>@tschfflr thank you πŸ’š

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.social/users/vicgrinberg/statuses/116936375113752952https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.social/users/vicgrinberg/statuses/116936375113752952Fri, 17 Jul 2026 16:58:01 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to 🧐 #AMA on #emojis for #WorldEmojiDay ❗ #linguistics on Fri, 17 Jul 2026 16:51:28 GMT]]>"Do you know of any unexpected pattern of emoji usage? For example I'd expect younger folks to use emoji more than older folks and private communication to use it more than business... But maybe my assumptions are wrong or there is something else interesting?" - Yes generally our studies show that younger ppl use emojis more than older (and women a bit more than men). But in class with my undergraduates, they recently often tell me "I don't use emojis at all". I must say I don't fully believe them (maybe they don't even notice all the little hearts anymore?) and I haven't been able to show this in studies, but it's an interesting anecdotal data point I'd like to know more about!
Also, a student of mine recently asked teenagers (13 and 16yos) about their emoji interpretations. And surprisingly to us, these almost entirely match the data we already have for adults. Even for some like πŸ™ƒ and πŸ˜‰ that I thought were changing (and just told you that younger people see them differently 😬). So that was a bit weird to me πŸ˜…

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://fediscience.org/users/tschfflr/statuses/116936349364345251https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://fediscience.org/users/tschfflr/statuses/116936349364345251Fri, 17 Jul 2026 16:51:28 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to 🧐 #AMA on #emojis for #WorldEmojiDay ❗ #linguistics on Fri, 17 Jul 2026 16:45:25 GMT]]>@tschfflr So many questions but I first need time to read your excellent posts.

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://social.vivaldi.net/ap/users/115831478228446444/statuses/116936325573079434https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://social.vivaldi.net/ap/users/115831478228446444/statuses/116936325573079434Fri, 17 Jul 2026 16:45:25 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to 🧐 #AMA on #emojis for #WorldEmojiDay ❗ #linguistics on Fri, 17 Jul 2026 16:44:59 GMT]]>Do young and old people interpret (or use) emojis differently? - Yes, to some extent. Actually with most emojis we see a huge overlap in interpretation and also use. But there are some frequent emojis which are, on average, interpreted differently by older and younger people in our studies. For example, the slighly smiling face πŸ™‚ and its upside down variant πŸ™ƒ are seen as more positive by older participants, while the little dot-eyes are seen as cold and not authentic ("psychopath eyes") by younger people. Similarly, the winking smiley πŸ˜‰ is used by the older group to mark any jokes or fun (similarly to the original πŸ˜‰ emoticon), and younger people find it often completely inappropriate and sexually suggestive

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://fediscience.org/users/tschfflr/statuses/116936323886298962https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://fediscience.org/users/tschfflr/statuses/116936323886298962Fri, 17 Jul 2026 16:44:59 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to 🧐 #AMA on #emojis for #WorldEmojiDay ❗ #linguistics on Fri, 17 Jul 2026 16:44:25 GMT]]>@tschfflr thanks for doing this, all this us super interesting!

Do you know of any unexpected pattern of emoji usage? For example I'd expect younger folks to use emoji more than older folks and private communication to use it more than business... But maybe my assumptions are wrong or there is something else interesting?

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.social/users/vicgrinberg/statuses/116936321615737038https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.social/users/vicgrinberg/statuses/116936321615737038Fri, 17 Jul 2026 16:44:25 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to 🧐 #AMA on #emojis for #WorldEmojiDay ❗ #linguistics on Fri, 17 Jul 2026 16:44:24 GMT]]>@tschfflr Can I say that in the olden days of ye twitter there was an account featuring the least used emojis? And of course there were people trying to upvote their favourites. I admit I always supported the cable car emoji (whimsical )

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://social.vivaldi.net/ap/users/115831478228446444/statuses/116936321562630087https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://social.vivaldi.net/ap/users/115831478228446444/statuses/116936321562630087Fri, 17 Jul 2026 16:44:24 GMT