ONLINE CODEX

10 Fun Facts You Didn’t Know About The History Of Emojis

Image: Domingo Alvarez E

Anyone who has ever engaged in an online conversation knows that there’s an important element missing that can easily lead to misunderstandings: nuance. When we are talking, we use tonality and facial expressions to convey an important part of the meaning of what we are communicating. Emojis come to save the day, adding color, emotion, and much-needed nuance to our text-based conversations.

But where did these tiny pictographs come from, and how did they evolve into the diverse set we use today? Let's take a journey through the history of emojis and uncover some fascinating facts along the way.

Image: Jezael Melgoza

Emojis originated in Japan in the late 1990s, a graphical evolution from their punctuation mark-based predecessors, the emoticons. Contrary to popular belief, their name does not stem from the word emotion (like emoticons) but from the combination of the Japanese words for "picture" (e) and "character" (moji). The first set of emojis - consisting of 90 icons - was created in 1997 by SoftBank, a Japanese mobile carrier.

Image: wu yi

In 2010, emojis gained global recognition when they were standardized by the Unicode Consortium, allowing them to be used across different platforms and devices. This standardization ensured that emojis would display consistently, regardless of the operating system or application.

Image: chaitanya pillala

While emojis initially began with simple smiley faces and expressions, they have evolved to encompass a wide range of symbols, objects, animals, and even flags representing different countries. Today, there are over 3,000 emojis available, offering users a diverse palette for expressing themselves.

Image: Kelvin Yan

Emojis have transcended linguistic and cultural barriers, becoming a universal language of sorts. In recognition of their influence, in 2015 Oxford Dictionaries named the U+1F602 (😂) emoji, known as "face with tears of joy," the Word of the Year. From the United States to China, people around the world have incorporated emojis into their digital communication seamlessly, adding a layer of emotional context to their messages.

Image: visuals

In recent years, there has been a push for more inclusive emojis, leading to the introduction of gender-neutral options and diverse skin tones. In particular, skin tones in emojis are based on the Fitzpatrick scale for classifying human skin color, a scale designed to estimate the effects of UV light on different types of skin. When no modifier is selected, emojis are often set to the default, non-realistic, Simpson-esque yellow.

Image: Bernard Hermant

Emojis don't just convey emotions; they reflect cultural trends and internet phenomena. Furthermore, linguists believe that as they continue to grow and develop, true emoji "dialects" will arise. And while many emoji have acquired almost standardized meanings, we could easily argue that it is already happening, as small groups of people tend to interpret and use emoji in quite different ways.

Image: Count Chris

July 17th is celebrated as World Emoji Day, commemorating the date originally displayed on Apple’s calendar emoji (📅). Although an unofficial holiday, the festivity remains a testament to the widespread popularity and cultural impact of emojis, with events and activities held around the world to mark the occasion.

Image: Markus Winkler

According to linguists, emoji do not necessarily carry their own fixed meaning but rather act as a paralanguage, adding meaning to text. This can lead to all sorts of communication problems as emojis are translated between different cultural settings or even between different platforms. Even a seemingly universal emoji like the smiling face can convey a meaning apparently opposite to its intended meaning.

Image: Tingey Injury Law Firm

Emojis have even found their way into legal proceedings, with courts grappling with the interpretation and admissibility of emojis as evidence. In some cases, emojis have been used to clarify the intent behind messages or to establish a timeline of events. However, the meaning of emojis can be easily misconstrued, as their interpretation often varies from user to user. For example, in a 2004 case regarding alleged industrial espionage, an email that referred to a "spy" within one of the involved companies was dismissed as evidence of criminal intent due to the usage of a smiley face emoji, suggesting it was a playful comment rather than a serious message.

Image: James Lee

Emojis have fundamentally changed the way we communicate in the digital age, even influencing the way we think. Psychologists have found that emojis can activate the same brain regions that are responsible for processing emotions. Also, they effectively change how messages are read and perceived, sometimes helping to soften or emphasize the information. In a highly visual world, emojis seem to be a highly successful addition to our written language, making communication faster and more efficient regardless of the medium.

Timeless dialogues

Are you a fan of cinema? Do you remember these 10 iconic movie lines?

Image: Myke Simon

Although they are comprised of hundreds of words and scenes, movies tend to be extremely memorable: All of us can quote from memory our favorite moments from our favorite films. However, there is a special kind of lines that tend to stick with us: those insanely remarkable pieces of dialogue that are forever ingrained in pop culture. With that in mind, here are 10 of the most unforgettable movie quotes out there, which we guarantee will make you look back on some of the most iconic movies of all time. Enjoy!

Image: micheile henderson

We’ll start with an American classic. By the end of Gone With the Wind, the character of Rhett Butler, wonderfully portrayed by the irreplaceable Clark Gable, perfectly summarizes how his love for Scarlett O’Hara has dried up with the simple line: "Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn."

Gable’s wonderful voice and nonchalant manner add a layer of gravitas to this amazing line.

Image: Thierry K

Leave it to a robot to deliver one of the most surprisingly menacing lines of this article. The 1984 film The Terminator skyrocketed the career of Arnold Schwarzenegger, who portrayed the titular Terminator in his chase against Sarah Connor.

One of the most terrifying aspects of this robot is how silent he is, relentlessly hunting down his victim. With that in mind, when the Terminator delivered his now-iconic line "I’ll be back," we couldn’t help but feel chills.

Image: NASA

The 1995 film Apollo 13 is an astonishing tribute to the bravery of the astronauts stranded in the titular mission. For many critics, this movie is considered one of the best films of all time and extremely close to being a perfect movie.

This is in no small part thanks to the amazing dialogue: Case in point, Tom Hanks’ iconic delivery of the line "Houston, we have a problem" is still relevant almost 30 years after this film’s release.

Image: Thomas Park

For such a terrifying movie, it’s funny that one of the few humorous moments of the 1975 thriller Jaws is also one of the most memorable lines of this groundbreaking film. And yet, we can’t help but laugh a nervous chuckle when we hear Chief Brody (played by Roy Scheider) say: "You are going to need a bigger boat."

Interestingly, this line was improvised and came as an inside joke from the production crew, who asked for a bigger boat to carry equipment.

Image: Geert Pieters

What can we say about Casablanca that hasn’t been said a million times? This 1942 film is not only considered a masterpiece but it has been referenced and parodied countless times, up to the point of being instantly recognizable by people who haven’t even seen this film.

In that sense, most film buffs are aware of what’s perhaps Casablanca's most memorable line, when Humphrey Boggart’s character asks the pianist to "play it again, Sam." The one small problem with this is that this line was never in the film: It is actually a juxtaposition of two different lines, spoken by Boggart and by Ingrid Bergman.

Image: Waldemar

The 1976 film Taxi Driver is to this day considered one of Martin Scorsese’s best films, as well as one of the most powerful characters portrayed by the great Robert De Niro. This movie is an exploration of the human psyche, through the eyes of Vietnam veteran Travis Bickle, who takes a job as a taxi driver to deal with his insomnia.

De Niro wonderfully plays Travis’ descent into chaos, which can be perfectly summarized in the film’s most famous scene, when Travis rehearses his toughness in front of a mirror and says the line "You talkin' to me?"

Image: Cole Kitchen

The Godfather is considered the quintessential mafia film: It was the first to portray this criminal organization as a precise and intricately woven system, held by a belief system deeply rooted in honor and tradition.

Marlon Brando plays Vito Corleone, the titular Godfather, a highly-respected leader who delivers what’s perhaps the most memorable line of the movie: "I’ll make him an offer he can’t refuse."

Image: Luis Domenech

Did you know that Clint Eastwood rarely portrayed a villain on film? That doesn’t mean his characters are all knights in shining armor: Quite the contrary, they tend to be grizzly, no-nonsense tough guys, although they are good guys without a doubt.

From these characters, Detective Harry Calahan, first introduced in the 1971 action-thriller Dirty Harry, perfectly embodies these characteristics commonly played by Eastwood. Case in point: His chilling delivery of the line "Go ahead, make my day" in the 1983 sequel Sudden Impact.

Image: ActionVance

Few movies have been as essential in the development of modern cinema as The Wizard of Oz. This 1939 film was groundbreaking in every sense of the word, from its amazing use of technicolor to its musical score and memorable characters.

We could easily include numerous iconic lines from this movie, but we ultimately chose this one: When Dorothy (played by Judy Garland) says " "Toto, I've a feeling we're not In Kansas anymore," she perfectly conveys the sense of wonder that the land of Oz has to offer.

Image: Tommy van Kessel

We’ll finish with what’s perhaps the most quoted line in science fiction history. What’s interesting about this line is that it is not related to a single scene, but it is rather spoken as some sort of motto: Whenever a Jedi says "May the force be with you" in any of the films that comprise the Star Wars filmography, he is wishing their companion good luck and protection in all their endeavors.