Learning English

• Confused by modern idioms?
• Sharks vs Humans
• Climate change and animal evolution
  

Introduction

Emojis are part of our daily communication. They've been around for more than 20 years, but are these colourful faces helping to bring people together or contributing to illiteracy? Sam and Neil talk about this topic and teach you related vocabulary.

This week's question

Emojis were invented in 1999 in Japan for the first internet-enabled mobile phones. The name, 'emoji', comes from the combination of two Japanese words, but which words?

a) face and emotion

b) picture and character

c) message and image

Listen to the programme to find out the answer. 

Vocabulary

the grammar police
(informal) people who want to have correct English spelling and grammar written online, and who criticise those who don't follow grammar rules

a jaundiced view (of something)
only seeing the negative side of something because of your own bad experience with it

the dark ages
a time in the past considered not advanced and characterised by a lack of knowledge and progress

dating 
spending time with someone you have started a romantic relationship

lucky in love
lucky in finding a romantic partner

it stands to reason (that)
it seems likely to be true (that); it makes sense (that) back to the dark ages

TRANSCRIPT

Note: This is not a word-for-word transcript.

Sam
Hello. This is 6 Minute English from BBC Learning English. I'm Sam.

Neil
And I'm Neil.

Sam
It's nice to see you, Neil, [smiley face], [high five], [fist bump]!

Neil
What's this, Sam? Are you saying hello with… emojis?!

Sam
Yes, I am! In this programme, we're entering the world of emojis - the small characters people use to show emotions in texts and emails. Do you have a favourite emoji, Neil? Mine's the [crying tears of laughter] emoji.

Neil
I like the [smiling face with hearts] one, and with over three thousand emojis to choose from, there's one for every occasion. It's one of the reasons why emojis have become so popular over the last 20 years - they let people put back some of the human emotion that's missing in written texts and emails. 

Sam
We'll be finding out more about emojis, and learning some related vocabulary, soon… but first I have a question for you, Neil. It's about the word 'emoji' itself, which was invented in 1999 in Japan for the first internet-enabled mobile phones. The name, 'emoji', comes from the combination two Japanese words, but which words? Is the word 'emoji' a combination of:
a) face and emotion?
b) picture and character? or
c) message and image?

Neil
I'll say it's a) face and emotion.

Sam
OK, Neil. We'll find out if your answer gets a [thumbs up] at the end of the programme. When we talk with someone face to face, we use physical gestures like smiling, laughing or nodding to show the other person how we feel. But these gestures get lost in written communication. 

Neil
That's where emojis come in - they add feeling and emotion to online messages. But not everyone is an emoji fan. Some people believe that carefully chosen words are the best way of expressing yourself, and that emojis are affecting our ability to put feelings into words.

Sam
Here's cognitive linguist, Professor Vyv Evans, author of a book about the language of emojis, explaining more to BBC Radio 4's, Word of Mouth.

Professor Vyv Evans
A lot of people, you know, language-mavens, the grammar police and so on, or say… have this sort of jaundiced, prejudiced view about emoji - that it's taking us back to the dark ages of illiteracy - bring back Shakespeare, and stick to the language of Shakespeare and all the rest of it.

But that fundamentally misunderstands the nature of communication. Emoji is important. In fact, it makes us more effective communicators in the digital age.

Neil
Vyv Evans describes people who don't approve of emojis as the grammar police - a slang term referring to people who want to see formal language and grammar - what they call 'correct' English - written online. The grammar police criticise modern styles of English and like to correct other people's mistakes in spelling and grammar.

Sam
According to Professor Evans, the grammar police have a jaundiced view of emojis - they only see the negative side of them because of their own ideas and experiences.

Neil
What's more, they think emojis are taking us back to the dark ages of illiteracy, when most people couldn't read or write. If someone refers to the dark ages, they mean a past time in history considered uncivilised, and characterised by ignorance.

Sam
But luckily for emoji fans, the grammar police are in the minority. Over 6 billion emoji messages are sent around the world every day, with about 70 percent containing emotion-based characters like [smiley face] and [blowing kisses].  

Neil
According to Professor Evans, emoji users are more expressive, more effective communicators. So, could that be an advantage for someone looking for love online? That's what Michael Rosen, presenter of BBC Radio 4's, Word of Mouth, wanted to find out.

Michael Rosen
Is it possible to start a relationship using emoji?

Professor Vyv Evans
Well, there is research that's been conducted by Match.com, the American-based dating site, and what they've found, based on their research, is that the people that use more emojis tend to be lucky in love, they have more success in terms of dating. In the digital age, using emoji makes us more effective communicators…

Michael Rosen
… more expressive …

Professor Vyv Evans
… more expressive, we're better able to express our emotional selves, and people therefore it stands to reason, if you use more emojis you're gonna get more dates!

Sam
For people who are dating, or starting a romantic relationship with someone, it seems that using emojis helps them be lucky in love, an expression meaning lucky in finding a romantic partner.

Neil
Emojis let us show our true personality, so, Professor Evans says, it stands to reason - in other words, it seems likely to be true - that emoji users get more dates.

And that's a big [thumbs up] from me! What about your question, Sam? Did my answer get a [thumbs up] too?

Sam
In my question, I asked you which words combine to make up the Japanese word, 'emoji'. 

Neil
I guessed it was a) face and emotion.

Sam
Which was [sad face] the wrong answer, I'm afraid. In fact, 'emoji' combines the words for 'picture' and 'character' in Japanese.

OK, let's recap the vocabulary we've learnt about emojis, starting with the grammar police, people who want correct spelling and grammar online, and criticise those who don't.

Neil
If you have a jaundiced view of something, you only see the negative side because of your own bad experience with it.

Sam
'The dark ages' describes a period in history characterised by ignorance and a lack of progress.

Neil
If you are dating someone, you are spending time with them romantically, which means you are lucky in love, an expression meaning lucky in finding a romantic partner.

Sam
And finally, the phrase it stands to reason means that something seems likely to be true, or it makes sense. Once again, our six minutes are up. Bye for now!

Neil
Bye!