Viewers like you help make PBS (Thank you 😃) . Support your local PBS Member Station here: http://to.pbs.org/Donateoffbook In the digital age, we increasingly use written language in place of face to face chat or phone calls. But the advantages email, chat, and text give us in speed come with limitations in communicating emotional tone. Enter emoticons and emojis. Not just a playful supplement to language, these new tools allow for complexity in tone and emotion never before possible in written language, as well as provide new opportunities for creative expression. Rapidly spreading throughout culture, emoticons and emojis fill a void in written language that few realized we so desperately needed. Featuring: Ben Zimmer, Linguist & Lexicographer http://benzimmer.com/ Mitchell Stephens, Prof. of Journalism, NYU http://journalism.nyu.edu/faculty/mitchell-stephens/ Fred Benenson, Creator of "Emoji Dick" http://www.emojidick.com/ Music: 1) WOAHFOX - null 2) TeknoAxe - null 3) "Bloody tears" by Kupa - http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Kupa/BACKUP11_-_Platine_festival_Compilation/08_Bloody_Tears 4) "8-bit Love" by Shem - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1nKcPa93v9Y More Off Book: Is Code the Most Important Language in the World? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vxv0-sggnqA How To Be Creative https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=weIQIthC3Ks Frame to Frame: The Art of Stop Motion https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wH_EaPc4Y5k The Art of Portrait Photography https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RjAHkAW8pV4 Follow Off Book: Twitter: @pbsoffbook Tumblr: http://pbsarts.tumblr.com/