The true story of emojis

Today, emojis are everywhere in our communications. Whether it's expressing an emotion, illustrating an idea, or simply adding a touch of lightness to a message, they have become a universal language.

But where do they really come from?

Let's dive together into the history of these pictograms that have become popular, and their ancestors.

1999: The first emojis

The first emojis appeared in Japan in 1999: they were created by artist Shigetaka Kurita for the "i-mode" mobile platform of the telecom operator DOCOMO.

Contrary to popular belief, the prefix "emo" does not come from the English word "emotion," but from Japanese: "Eh" (image) and "Moji" (letter, character).

Emojis are therefore, in a way, the Japanese equivalent of the term "pictogram."

Kurita's first 176 emojis were simple 12x12 pixel icons, representing weather, a heart, and other everyday symbols. They were quickly adopted and are now preserved in the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York.

It wasn't until 2010 that emojis were standardized by the Unicode Consortium, thanks to the efforts of engineers at Google and Apple.

But then, how did we express our emotions in writing before their invention?

1982: The invention of the first emoticon

Emoticons are those little faces and symbols formed solely with punctuation marks: parentheses, dashes, dots, etc. Unlike emojis, they were limited to expressing emotions.

The first known emoticon appeared on September 19, 1982, on a Bulletin Board System (BBS) at Carnegie Mellon University. Computer scientist Scott Fahlman proposed using ":-)" to indicate the humorous tone of a message. The idea spread quickly, and emoticons became a key element of online communication, especially with the rise of text messaging in the 1990s.

But while the emoticon is indeed the direct ancestor of the emoji, other systems already existed for conveying emotions in writing, well before the digital age.

1977: Dingbats: the ancestors of pictograms

Before emojis were integrated into Unicode standards, fonts called "dingbats" were used.

This can be informally translated as "thingamajig" or "whatsit" in French.

One of the most famous fonts of this type is "Zapf Dingbats," created in 1977 for MacOS.

It contained symbols such as checkboxes, arrows, hearts, and other graphic signs, but in reality, these pictograms were mainly used for printing rather than instant communication.

To insert a pictogram into a document, you not only had to have the font installed on your computer, but also manually switch fonts in part of the document.

Not exactly practical for a quick conversation! That's why emoticons were used instead.

1939: Coded messages

During World War II, Allied soldiers frequently wrote to their families and loved ones, but every letter was carefully inspected by military censorship to prevent any information leaks.

To get around this surveillance, soldiers and their families used coded acronyms.

For example, "CHINA" meant "Come Home I'm Naked Already," a subtle message that foreshadows certain modern uses of the eggplant emoji 🍆!

1879: Morse code and telegraphic codes

Did you know that a primitive form of emoji existed in Morse code?

As early as the 19th century, telegraph operators used shortcuts and numerical codes to convey emotions and greetings.

In 1879, Walter P. Phillips published the "Phillips Code," which shortened telegrams by assigning numbers to certain common expressions. For example:

• 55: Very important message
• 73: Best regards
• 88: Love and kisses

This system was very close to the spirit of emojis, allowing an emotion or feeling to be expressed with a single character.

Incidentally, one of these codes has stood the test of time: "POTUS," for "President of the United States." It is still used today as the official identifier for the President of the United States on social media.

Conclusion

The emojis we use today are part of a long tradition of encoding emotions in writing.

From emoticons to telegraphic codes to dingbats, history shows that we have always sought ways to enrich our messages to better make ourselves understood, and this dates back to the 19th century.

So the next time you send a 😊 or a 😂, remember that you're carrying on a centuries-old tradition!