Do emojis make language better? - 6 Minute English

Hello. This is 6 Minute English from BBC

Learning English. I’m Sam.

And I’m Neil.

It’s nice to see you, Neil, [smiley face],

[high five], [fist bump]!

What’s this, Sam? Are you saying

hello with… emojis?!

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.

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 twenty years – they let people

put back some of the human emotion that’s

missing in written texts and emails.

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 of 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?

I’ll say it’s a) face and emotion.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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].

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.

Is it possible to start a  relationship using emoji?

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...

... more expressive ...

... 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!

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.

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?

In my question, I asked you which words

combine to make up

the Japanese word, ‘emoji’.

I guessed it was a) face and emotion.

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.

If you have a jaundiced view of something,

you only see the negative side

because of your own bad experience with it.

‘The dark ages’ describes a period

in history characterised by ignorance

and a lack of progress.

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.

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!

Bye!