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The difference between "Kaomoji", "Emoji", and "Emojicon"

fadendoh

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14 Mar 2014
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Could someone explain to me the difference between "Kaomoji", "Emoji", and "Emojicon"?

From my understanding "Kaomoji" are Japanese emoticons such as (ツ^ツ?、ツ^).

However, I have also seen what would be considered as "Kaomoji" also be named "Emoji". I do realize that you have a page that says this as well. I would just like clarification as to whether or not there is a difference between "Kaomoji" and "Emoji" or if they are the same thing.

My confusion stems from different meanings and images being considered "Emoji". For example on the website Emojipedia ? ? Find any Emoji Meaning ????????? they define "Emoji" as the "type of Emoticon used on iPhone, iPad, Android and Windows Phone; as well as Mac OS X and Windows 8." The examples this site gives also are just images of things and not images made from Japanese characters or punctuation marks.

Adding to my confusion, are what are called "Emoji" apps such as found here and this is just one example (I did find an app that also had these images and emoticons I would consider "Kaomoji"/"Emoji" however I cannot find it at the moment). How can these be "Emoji" if they are not made of Japanese characters and punctuations? Are they just a term the creator is using to make it more interesting than just calling it a "smiley" or "emoticon" app? Or are "Emoji" really these images and not just another term for "Kaomoji"?

Now, recently, I have come upon "Emojicons". What exactly are these? To me, they just look like "Kaomoji"/"Emoji" and yet they are called "Emojicons". Is there a difference that I am just not seeing? Are "Emojicons" just really elaborate "Kaomoji"/"Emoji"? Or are these all the same and just with different names.

I appreciate any and all help with these questions. Thank you.
 
I would say:
顔文字 (kaomoji) - Japanese style emoticons such as \(^o^)/ ("kao" literally means "face"). Made up from typeable characters, although in most cases you can get your IME to produce a range by typing かおもじ in and converting: (^_-)-☆ (*'∀`*) !(^O^)!

絵文字 (emoji) - the little icons that you get, particularly on phones - although you may type a particular sequence to get them, the actual emoji is a single image. Things like: 🙂

However, I think that these terms are not used consistently when they're adopted into English.
"Emojicons" I think is just a word that site made up by smushing together "Emoji" and "Emoticon".
 
Thank you so much for the reply nekojita!

That at least clears some things up for me. "Kaomoji" seems to be what we would consider Japanese emoticons right? "Emoji", as you have pointed out, are more of the premade digital images.

Would it make sense to consider "Kaomoji" the equivalent of ascii made emoticons like ": )" *I know that this emoticon looks awkward but it is just a ":" and ")" smiley face but if I put them together I get the premade image* and "Emoji" the equivalent of premade smileys such as ":)" you would find in instant messangers and even in the reply boxes we have here?

In regards to "Emoji", what about, on the "Emoji" page here on this site? I do not mean to criticize the page itself since I find it to be extremely clear and incredibly useful. It says "Emoji" at the top but "Kaomoji" in hiragana? It also says "In Japanese language the are referred to as emoji or rather kaomoji (かおもじ)" does that mean "Emoji" are not just the singular images and could actually be an alternate name for "Kaomoji"? Or is this a preference thing in terms of calling japanese emoticons, both the ones that are (*エ∀`*) and 🙂 , "kaomoji" or "emoji"?

I definitely agree about the legitimacy of the "emojicons". There is no difference from the ones on the emojicon sites and from just "Kaomoji".

How about the "Emoji" apps? Do you think that those should be called something else? I have no qualms with the apps themselves, I am sure they are useful and fun for the user, but I do have a problem with the name being used. IF they solely used images like the "Emoji" you posted, then I would have no problem whatsoever. But, they do use what would be "Kaomoji" and also American smiley emoticons like ":)" and put them in under a "Emoji" umbrella term. I think that their use of "Emoji" is more of them using a flavor word to make their product much more unique and interesting rather than a accurate name.

Once again, thank you for your help nekojita! I still have a lot of questions but this is a step in the right direction. I would really appreciate more help and opinions/insight with the questions here and in the original post. Thank you.
 
although in most cases you can get your IME to produce a range by typing かおもじ in and converting: (^_-)-☆ (*エ∀`*) !(^O^)!

How on Earth do you go about doing that? Is that how most Japanese people do it?
 
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