The Word of the Year for 2015 is technically  not a word at all.

That’s right – the 2015 Oxford Dictionary Word of the Year goes to – Emoji.

Pretty fitting indeed. The fun-loving, creative message-spurring emoji has become one of the hottest and most beloved topics – and activities – of the year.

The concept of the emoji actually first started in 1999, invented by a Japanese telecommunications planner. Inspired by comics and street signs, the name comes from the Japanese words for picture and character.

Read more from TIME Magazine.

Runner-ups for this year’s big contest include:

• ad blocker
• Dark Web
• lumbersexual
• refugee
• sharing economy

and my personal favorite… on fleek.

-Jess