Language ยท 2
Which symbol did Oxford Dictionaries name as its Word of the Year for 2015, marking the first time a pictograph won the title?
Answer
The ๐ (Face with Tears of Joy) emoji
Oxford Dictionaries chose the Face with Tears of Joy emoji as its 2015 Word of the Year because usage data showed it was the most-used emoji globally that year, breaking with the tradition of selecting an actual word.
๐ก Did you know?
Oxford Dictionary's 2015 'Word of the Year' was ๐ (face with tears of joy)โthe first time a pictograph, not a word, won globally.
Other options people guess
- The ๐ (Raised Hands) emoji
- The โค๏ธ (Red Heart) emoji
- The ๐ (Skull) emoji
Topics
- emoji
- oxford-dictionaries
- word-of-the-year
- pop-culture
- digital-communication
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