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 ...

If a picture is worth a thousand words, then what of emoji, that ever-increasingly important part of our lexicon? Face with Tears of Joy: A natural history of emoji by Keith Houston has some insights, ...

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 ...

Smiling at Gen Z? Better watch your back. What used to be the universal symbol of warmth and joy has taken a sinister turn — at least in the eyes of Gen Z. The classic smiley face emoji now means ...