Well would you believe it, Oxford Dictionaries have announced their word of the year and guess what… it isn’t even a word, it’s an emoji!
It may not be a word by the strictest definition – but the emoji commonly known as “face with tears of joy” has been named the “Word” of the Year for 2015 by Oxford Dictionaries.
Research by mobile technology business SwiftKey found that “Face with Tears of Joy” or “crying with laughter-face” was the most heavily used emoji globally in 2015.
Statistics showed that the character comprised 20% of all emoji used in the UK in 2015.
So it’s a word you can’t spell or say, however Oxford Dictionaries said “Crying of laughter face” was chosen because it was the most used emoji globally this year; featuring in 20 per cent of all emojis used in the UK.
The announcement has had a mixed reaction, however even critics such as the Guardian have seen the funny side, arguing its inclusion only with 5 of their own suggestions for an emoji as word of the year which included: Nail painting emoji, Aubergine emoji, The poo emoji, Person raising both hands in celebration emoji and… *sigh* Aubergine emoji.
