That's Oxford's word of the year. The Face with Tears of Joy emoji--also known as the LOL emoji. It comprised 20% of all emoji use in the U.S. and U.K.
And then the I read this --> Though this marks a historic moment of recognition for the pictures plastered throughout tweets and texts, Oxford has not added or defined any emoji in their actual databases. Nor, says a spokesperson for the publisher, do they have plans to do so at this point.
Big words and show-off words are irritating. But a good word makes all the difference. Something that's immediately understandable and well-chosen for the situation. Glamorous, joyful, diabolical. And on.
A word of the year has an annual opportunity to unify around a thought. It also creates a running history of our times.
A few of the other words on Oxford's 2015 short list:
ad blocker, noun: A piece of software designed to prevent advertisements from appearing on a web page.
Dark Web, noun: The part of the World Wide Web that is only accessible by means of special software, allowing users and website operators to remain anonymous or untraceable
sharing economy, noun: An economic system in which assets or services are shared between private individuals, either free or for a fee, typically by means of the Internet.
There is an important story within each of these, symbolic of the year, and new to our vocabulary. And you could actually look them up and define them, using something from Oxford.