Spell it? Oxford Dictionary’s ‘word of the year’ is definitely NOT a word

Every year, the good people behind the Oxford English Dictionary release an official 'Word Of The Year' – and this year's entry is stirring up quite a bit of confusion.

To give you a sense of the types of words that generally make the cut, 2013 was officially the year of the 'selfie' which is impressive considering the word was only entered into the dictionary in that same year. 

'Selfie' and 'vape' (2014's entry) might make some sense, but this year's word of the year is sure to get you scratching your heads. 

Without further ado, the 2015 official word of the year is…

While it may be one of our favourite emojis (after the dancing lady in red and the embarrassed monkeys obvs), we are still not quite sure how the officially titled 'laughing with tears of joy' emoji constitutes a word. 

"Emojis have been around since the late 1990's, but 2015 saw their use, and the use of the word 'emoji', increase hugely," a spokesperson for the dictionary explains.

"The 'face with tears of joy' emoji was chosen because it was the most used emoji globally in 2015."

So there you have it folks! Mark this day as the day that an emoji has officially been recognised as a word. 

What next? Smart phones being recognised as pets? Puh-lease.