NPR

Our Critic Doesn't Entirely <3 'The Emoji Code'

Vyvyan Evans' new book about the rise of emojis casts the little icons as part of human language's long-running struggle to evolve — but too often it reads like a textbook, didactic and dry.
<em>The Emoji Code</em> by Vyvyan Evans

Jason Heller is a senior writer at The A.V. Club, a Hugo Award-winning editor and author of the novel Taft 2012.

There's no ignoring emojis. Subtly yet inexorably over the past few years, those tiny, graphic symbols representing happiness and frustration — not to mention an increasing host of other emotions, actions, and objects — have become ubiquitous. And the more we rely, professor and linguistics expert Vyvyan Evans sheds light on how and why this new language he calls Emoji came about — and where it might be headed.

You’re reading a preview, subscribe to read more.

More from NPR

NPR3 min readInternational Relations
Newly Elected Prime Minister In Solomon Islands Is Likely To Keep Close China Ties
Solomon Islands lawmakers elected former Foreign Minister Jeremiah Manele as prime minister Thursday in a development that suggests the South Pacific island nation will maintain close ties with China.
NPR4 min read
A Poet Searches For Answers About The Short Life Of A Writer In 'Traces Of Enayat'
Poet Iman Mersal's book is a memoir of her search for knowledge about the writer Enayat al-Zayyat; it's a slow, idiosyncratic journey through a layered, changing Cairo — and through her own mind.
NPR1 min readDiscrimination & Race Relations
Why Is A 6-week Abortion Ban Nearly A Total Ban? It's About How We Date A Pregnancy
The time a person has to decide whether to have an abortion in Florida and other states with six-week abortion bans is at most two weeks. Why? It's has to do with how we date early pregnancy.

Related Books & Audiobooks