Do you speak emoji? Forget learning French, you need to be fluent in 'picture letters'

A friend sends a dog picture and you need a translation - we consult the new icon dictionaries
Smart way to talk: there are now more than 700 emojis to choose from

Some of us are visual creatures, while others have a way with words. Usually, these two stay separate - that is until emojis rewrote the rulebook. Now you can write missives in text that are peppered with little pictures. It’s a words and pictures mash-up, but it’s also an accommodating mode of communication for when you want to troll a pal, express joy, or narrate the misery of a hangover that cannot be told in meagre language.

Emojis are used more frequently on Twitter than hyphens or the number five and, ironically, thousands of words have been devoted to the trend.

Blurring the boundaries between dictionary and Pictionary (the word in Japanese actually means "picture letter"), the Global Language Monitor found that the heart emoji was the top 'word' used worldwide in 2014, which was the first time an image has won the prize. It’s not surprising, given that the category of 'top word' should disqualify it on technical grounds.

There are now more than 700 emojis in usage, and Apple has promised to add as many as 250 new emojis, including a more racially diverse selection of characters, to its keyboard when the iOS8.3 update arrives later this year. The Apple Watch allows you to make custom emojis and send them to pop up on the screen of friends' watches.

The inclusion in the technology giant’s bespoke operating system both cements and symbolises the emoji's prominent position on the lexical landscape.

With the growth of any language comes the tools and the systems required to interpret it, such as dictionaries and thesauruses. And it is the same with emojis.

First came the Emojipidia, which is like a dictionary for translating each character. This is more important than you think, as the meanings of some emojis are picked over and contested bitterly. Then came the games, for example guessing the first line of a famous book that has been spelled out in emojis.

And then came the idioms and, for this, you have Emojisaurus. It works the other way round - by translating into emoji. Look for a well-known phrase or name, and the Emojisaurus will give you its emoji translation.

So, for example, the movie Psycho is shown as a Munch-esque screaming face, a shower and knife; dog-eat-dog is a dog, a set of cutlery, and another type of dog (the keyboard is rich with canine species). Hamlet's famous query, "To be or not to be, that is the question" is spelled out in a series of bees and arrows, finished with a question mark. "See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil" is the trio of cheeky monkeys, all in a line: the first covering its eyes, the second its ears, the third its mouth.

It's useful for looking clever in front of pals; or simply as entertainment on a quiet, colourless day.

While some might champion the merits of learning French on your commute, or Spanish in the evenings, the new digital economy points to the importance of fluency in emoji.

For actions speak louder than words, but emojis speak loudest of all.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in