Instead of ‘word of the year’, they should have better called it as “Emoji of the year”. .... May be it is a business promotion strategy of Oxford Dictionary.

It is just changing times , Earlier when words like Bunglow, Verandah, Curry etc were introduced not many English people were happy about it...Now we find many words from other languages being added all the time , so why not a emotican word ?

I don't mind, I would rather be pleased if they insert as many words as they can in the dictionary which will help communicate better with different cultures and societies. After all the world is a global village now.

Dictionaries keep adding words which are commonly used and these days Emoticons are used regularly. English language has evolved a great deal over the years. Even modern English which roughly began at the time of Shakespeare has seen tremendous change since the Britishers colonised many countries and the languages spoken in those countries influenced English. Agreeing to all that but still unable to accept that an emoticon can be regarded as a word. Yes, changing times I guess!! Actually even in schools when words are used, one takes Dictionary as the reference to acceptable words.They are used if found in the dictionary unless it is a slang. So, in coming times, can we expect and accept our students wiring sentences with smilies in answer sheets or people writing leave applications with emoticons?? Well maybe someday !!

The Oxford Dictionary authorities right from the beginning saying that Emoji is not a word but an emoticon and it cannot be found in Dictionary. So there is no fear of students using them in their examination papers or in their notes.

rambabu wrote:

The Oxford Dictionary authorities right from the beginning saying that Emoji is not a word but an emoticon and it cannot be found in Dictionary. So there is no fear of students using them in their examination papers or in their notes.

 

 

Thank God for little mercies !! It being chosen as word of the year is a step towards that especially after lol, omg et al having been added!!

LOL, OMG etc, thankfully are not allowed in the academic sphere, even in Western countries. My grand daughters studying in the USA said so.

Evolution of vocabulary of a living language just mirrors the dynamic world we are living in .A few new words do get added but these fall into disuse over a period of time and some attain status of permanence.Father Time takes care of their life and death!

I always believe that emticons can convey the feeling easily but cannot touch the heart deeply or I must say that it does not make a strong impact. If such expression get included in the dictionary does not mean that it will be widely used especially in creative writing. It will never help to grab the attention of the readers for a long time. 

rambabu wrote:

It's the usual practice of all Dictionaries and add new words basing on the popularity of the word to their respective dictionaries. Its not a new  thing. But the new thing is for the first time, Oxford picked "Emoji", an emoticon, a face with tears of joy.Emoji is not a word.

In future Oxfords add words which are used in SMS and twitter. Some time didn't understand the meaning of message. In SMS U used for You