The Oxford English Dictionary's Word of the Year Is an Emoji

For years, the OED went at least somewhat dignified with their new “words of the year” selections. In 2014 they selected “vape”; in 2013 it was “selfie”—two words we’d all dutifully added to our daily lives. But times are hard. So hard that the Dictionary’s celebrated addition this year is just… a picture.

Via Time, the press release explaining the decision:

“Although emoji have been a staple of texting teens for some time, emoji culture exploded into the global mainstream over the past year,” the company’s team wrote in a press release. “Emoji have come to embody a core aspect of living in a digital world that is visually driven, emotionally expressive, and obsessively immediate.”

According to their research, the “Face With Tears of Joy” emoji is the most popular; the face blowing a kiss is a close second. Congrats, humanity: We’ve truly outdone ourselves.

“On Fleek,” “refugee,” and “dark web” also made the 2015 list.

Image via Meme Vault via Shigetaka Kuritia, their creator.