Oxford dictionaries' word of the year for 2015 isn't a word at all, it's an emoji. Oxford announced on Monday that its official word of the year for 2015 was the "Face with Tears of Joy" emoji. This ...

Linguists and language pedants generally say no. In “Face With Tears of Joy: A Natural History of Emoji,” Keith Houston, weighing the evidence, concurs. He asserts, however, that there is “a richness ...

Here’s something you can text your friends about. It’s World Emoji Day, a completely made up, delightful, and, yes, annual chance to reflect on the thousands of symbols and smileys we’ve come to love, ...

Historian Houston (Empire of the Sum) chronicles the rise of the emoji in this fun romp through the evolution of digital language. He begins the account in Japan, where teenagers’ widespread use of ...