Oxford: If you don’t find a word in the dictionary, you can’t pronounce properly. And whether you can write it down depends on your artistic ability.
Oxford Dictionaries word of a year is not as strict as often. This time the esteemed dictionary has selected “word of the year” is an emoji, specifically the “face with tears of joy” emoji.
Oxford Dictionaries Word of the Year 2015 is… 😂! https://t.co/LjJyxO8cvv #OxfordWOTY pic.twitter.com/Ced28y3I6F
— Oxford Languages (@OxLanguages) November 16, 2015
In a blog post, Oxford Dictionaries said, ” face with tears of joy was chosen as the ‘word’ that best reflected the ethos, mood, and pre-occupations of 2015.”
The publishers of the dictionary have found that emojji was used worldwide frequently. But although Oxford Dictionaries chose to grace it with this honour, don’t expect this or any other emoji to appear in a dictionary. At least, not in the near future.
Anyone for cake? 😂 #OxfordWOTY pic.twitter.com/YxhPZ2XfTz
— Oxford Languages (@OxLanguages) November 17, 2015
The company also released a short list of runners-up for word of the year, including “sharing economy,” “on fleek” and, on a more serious note, “refugee.”
The word of the year for 2014 was vape, so whether this time chosen emoji is an improvement is surely a topic for much debate.
Oxford’s previous words of the year have included such social media buzzwords as selfie, Gif and unfriend.
