Q 01/05

The word "emoji" comes from two Japanese words. What do they literally mean?

A) Picture + character

B) Smile + message

C) Face + writing

D) Emotion + icon

Answer · why

A) Picture + character

The resemblance to the English words emotion and emoticon is pure coincidence; the Japanese term originally just meant pictograph.

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

Oxford's research found it made up 20% of all emoji used in the UK that year, and 17% in the US.

Q 03/05

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

A) SoftBank

B) au by KDDI

C) NTT DoCoMo

D) Sony Ericsson

Answer · why

C) NTT DoCoMo

Kurita drew on manga symbols, weather pictograms, Chinese characters and street signs, working on a 12-by-12-pixel grid.

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 set was shown in an exhibition titled Inbox: The Original Emoji, by Shigetaka Kurita, and returned in the museum's 2025 design-icons show.

Q 05/05

On what date is World Emoji Day celebrated each year?

A) 17 July

B) 1 April

C) 14 February

D) 31 October

Answer · why

A) 17 July

Apple has used the day since 2017 to preview the next batch of emoji coming to iOS.