Q 01/05

What do the two Japanese words that make up "emoji" literally mean?

A) Face + writing

B) Picture + character

C) Smile + message

D) Small + symbol

Answer · why

B) Picture + character

Picture + character: e means picture and moji means character, so the word's likeness to "emotion" and "emoticon" is pure coincidence.

Q 02/05

Which emoji was Oxford Dictionaries' Word of the Year in 2015?

A) Grinning squinting face

B) Face with tears of joy

C) Smiling face with heart-eyes

D) Sparkling heart

Answer · why

B) Face with tears of joy

Face with tears of joy won because Oxford's research with SwiftKey found it was the most used emoji worldwide in 2015.

Q 03/05

Shigetaka Kurita designed 176 emoji in 1999 for the i-mode service of which company?

A) Sharp

B) KDDI

C) NTT DoCoMo

D) Sony Ericsson

Answer · why

C) NTT DoCoMo

NTT DoCoMo's 176 icons were an instant hit, but rival carriers built their own sets, which often wouldn't display on each other's phones.

Q 04/05

In 2016 which institution acquired the original 1999 Japanese emoji set for its permanent collection?

A) The Metropolitan Museum of Art

B) The Smithsonian Institution

C) The British Museum

D) The Museum of Modern Art

Answer · why

D) The Museum of Modern Art

The Museum of Modern Art received the 176 icons as a gift from their maker and hailed them as seeds of a new visual language.

Q 05/05

What did Apple share on World Emoji Day in 2017?

A) Its first animated emoji

B) A preview of upcoming emoji

C) A new emoji keyboard for Mac

D) Its own emoji-only messaging app

Answer · why

B) A preview of upcoming emoji

A preview of upcoming emoji such as Woman with Headscarf and Breastfeeding, which Apple said would help people express more diversity.