Thanks Hank Green.

  • frank
    91·
    6 hours ago

    Emoticon :) has etymology stemming from emotion + icon. Tis from the 80s, early computer stuff

    Emoji 😊 is japanese, from 絵文字 which is like, drawing + character, basically. It’s a word MUCH older than computing.

    False cognates. Sound similar, similar function, nothing to do with each other.

    • jxk@sh.itjust.works
      3·
      4 hours ago

      My favourite false cognate is the plural ending -s in French and English. The English one has Germanic roots, while the French one come from Latin accusative plural -as/-os. They are unrelated etymologically.

      • jxk@sh.itjust.works
        2·
        3 hours ago

        After looking it up I have to correct myself, the Germanic plural - s also come from the accusative plural

    • HeyThisIsntTheYMCA@lemmy.worldEnglish
      2·
      4 hours ago

      There’s a :) in a typewritten cookbook I have from the 40s. I don’t know how widespread smileys were back then, but they existed.