skip to main content
Goldsmiths - University of London
  • Staff & students
  • Search
  • Main menu
 
Main menu

Primary

  • Home
  • Course finder
  • Study
  • Life on campus
  • Departments
  • Research and Enterprise
  • Alumni and friends
  • Services for Business
  • Events
  • About us
  • News
Staff & students

Staff + students

  • Covid-19 information
  • Students
  • Library
  • Timetable
  • Learn.gold - VLE
  • Email - Outlook
  • IT support
  • Staff directory
  • Goldmine - staff intranet
  • Graduate School - PGR students
  • Teaching and Learning Innovation Centre
  • Events admin
In this section

Breadcrumb navigation

  • About us
    • Contact
    • Find us
    • Working at Goldsmiths
    • About Goldsmiths
    • Our misson, values and strategy
    • Governance
    • Goldsmiths in the Community
    • Academic Partnerships
    • Open Book
    • Goldsmiths Centre for Contemporary Art
    • Goldsmiths Global
    • Goldsmiths Press
    • Term dates
  • News
  • Emoji language
Open social sharing
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Whatsapp

'Secret language' of emoji revealed

Technologies, Worlds, Politics, Computing

Article

Written byPete Wilton
Published on 7 Feb 2018

People create their own 'secret languages' by attaching lasting alternative meanings to emoji unrelated to what they are designed to represent, according to a study from Goldsmiths, University of London.

Examples of emoji

In people’s secret languages emoji of pizza or wedges of cheese mean ‘I love you’ (because these were foods people love), a bathtub emoji means a coffin (because it was the closest to a coffin shape), and a thinking face means ‘lesbian’ (because the position of the thumb and forefinger on the chin means ‘lesbian’ in American Sign Language).

These alternative meanings can be assigned randomly but become permanent and are used consistently over time between partners, friends, or family members, the research found.

The study, by researchers from Goldsmiths and the University of Birmingham, is due to be presented at the Computer Human Interaction 2018 conference in Montreal, Canada (21-26 April 2018).

In 2016 there was a furious customer backlash against Apple for changing the rendering of its peach emoji to look smoother. Researchers found that most Apple users were using this emoji to refer to buttocks, with only 7% referring to the foodstuff, and were angry the redrawn emoji did not fit this alternative meaning.

The Goldsmiths-led team launched an online survey to investigate how individuals personalise emoji to create ‘secret’ meanings. Those responding reported repurposing 69 different emoji for secret communication with the most common emoji chosen being an octopus, the most common emoji for an affectionate name being a penguin, and the most common category of emoji used ‘Animals & Nature’.

Dr Sarah Wiseman, Lecturer in Computer Science at Goldsmiths and co-author of the study, said: “While we know some fruit and vegetable emoji have been repurposed by many people to mean something else, we were intrigued to find out about personal instances of this – examples of emoji that have a special meaning for just two people. Often this was about more than just typing something more quickly: people found that by using emoji they could convey very complex meanings and thoughts with them that could not be described in words.”

Of the survey’s 72 respondents (134 participants in total) who reported repurposing emoji:

47% exchanged them with partners and 28% exchanged with friends

21% used the emoji to express some form of affection

19% used them to symbolise a particular person or pet

7% used them to refer to sex

6% used them to be covert while referring to sex or illegal activity

Dr Sarah Wiseman said: “Our study shows that people use emoji in a similar way to nicknames or slang, as a handy shortcut to what they mean, which through consistent use creates an intimate ‘secret language’ others don’t understand. Creators of emoji need to bear in mind the subtle way that people repurpose them and the impact even small visual changes to them could have on these alternative meanings.”

A report of the research, entitled ‘Repurposing emoji for personalised communication: Why [pizza emoji] means “I love you”’ will be presented at the Computer Human Interaction 2018 conference in Montreal, Canada (21-26 April 2018).

Image: based on apple emoji by Kyle McDonald

Our world renowned experts

Dr Sarah Wiseman

Sarah’s focusses on human computer interaction, specifically the design of data entry interfaces in hospitals.

  • About us
  • Accessibility statement
  • Contact us
  • Cookie use
  • Find us
  • Copyright and disclaimer
  • Jobs
  • Slavery and human trafficking statement
Admin login
  • Twitter
  • Linkedin
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • YouTube
© Goldsmiths, University of London Back to top