Source – https://omniglot.com/writing/egyptian.htm

Do you understand what is written in this pictorial image? Nor did I until I read the translation. This Ancient Egyptian Language or Hieroglyphic script means – ‘The crocodile eats the king’. 

The English we use today is the filtered form of hieroglyphics. And our love for symbolic language, what we call emoji, seems to bring back memories of primitive times. Needless to say, hieroglyphs have a specific meaning attached to them but emojis do not.  

In one of his interviews, Mr. Shigetaka Kurita, the man who designed emojis in 1999, has said that he came up with this idea of emojis to help people communicate their emotions if they can’t find right word to describe them. 

Mr. S (I will call him so), you have been too kind to create wonderful emojis, especially for those who always fall short of words to communicate their thoughts and emotions. But Mr. S sometimes your emojis seem to confuse me, especially when they are used in isolation. You tell me, what should I make out of these three different emojis for the same piece of writing sent by three different readers?

🔥

👌

😄

• Was the content fiery or enlightening or destructive?
• Was the language fantastic or was the idea of writing such a piece a wonderful idea in itself?
• Was the piece of writing humorous or laughable?

This pictorial idea of communication seems to have replaced man’s command over the language. It seems that we do not wish to put some effort into thinking about the right vocabulary. We want to accomplish things very easily and quickly. We do not want to spend time mulling over the right word at the right place. We simply want to use a few emojis and get it done with it. 🙂

The fun part is at times many of us don’t even know the right meaning of many emojis. I myself have used the emoji 🤓 while acknowledging the feedback I receive for my write-ups. Since I wear a similar pair of glasses, I would send this emoji along with a few words of gratitude. But who knew that it meant ‘nerd’? A ‘geek’! Of course, I am not a nerd. 

Recently, I sent a 🤟 emoji with a GM message as a reply to one of my good friends. A happily-married 👨. When he asked me the meaning of the emoji, I confidently said that it was just a Yo! – a happy exclamation. Something like a hip-hop style. But the actual meaning of it is ‘I ❤ you’. Of course, I didn’t tell him that. 🙈

Sometimes chatting with too many people at the same time may also give rise to amusing or I would rather say embarrassing episodes. Have you ever sent a 🖕 instead of a 👆? 

Emojis are fun to use in communication. However, they shouldn’t replace words. Can I call them pictorial adjectives? They were created to be added to the written text for entertainment as well as to avoid any miscommunication through a written text or message. Many times even written text messages fail to communicate the exact message in the right tone. I have had several such experiences. In such a case, I would add a 😊 emoji so as to convey to the receiver that whatever was said was said in all earnestness without any malice. Emojis like 🙂😄☺ work. 

At least for me. Don’t know about you. 

                         ***

Hey! Just remembered one more personal experience. I don’t know why people always considered me (or do they even today?) grave and unapproachable. Obviously, from the look of my face. I just wonder what would be an appropriate emoji to describe my face or gesture in my days of yore. 

🤔…

Didn’t find any suitable emoji. ☹

Mr. S, you got some more work to do. 😉