Keith Houston
@keithhouston.bsky.social
Blogs at @shadycharacters.co.uk. Author of SHADY CHARACTERS, THE BOOK, EMPIRE OF THE SUM and FACE WITH TEARS OF JOY: A NATURAL HISTORY OF EMOJI (https://shadycharacters.co.uk/books/).
Reposted by Keith Houston
Day 3 of the Shady Characters advent calendar! An unassuming emoji today, in the form of the HAMBURGER (🍔), but one which can teach us a surprising amount about how the emoji sausage is made, so to speak: shadycharacters.co.u....
If you missed day 1 or day 2, check out shadycharacters.co.u...!
If you missed day 1 or day 2, check out shadycharacters.co.u...!
December 9, 2025 at 7:45 PM
Day 3 of the Shady Characters advent calendar! An unassuming emoji today, in the form of the HAMBURGER (🍔), but one which can teach us a surprising amount about how the emoji sausage is made, so to speak: shadycharacters.co.u....
If you missed day 1 or day 2, check out shadycharacters.co.u...!
If you missed day 1 or day 2, check out shadycharacters.co.u...!
Reposted by Keith Houston
Ten years ago, the OED’s word of the year was “😂”.
If this is a word, is ‘emoji’ a language?
@keithhouston.bsky.social’s interesting exploration of the question takes us along a literary translation (Emoji Dick), the challenge of universality and more:
buff.ly/D00WGXr
If this is a word, is ‘emoji’ a language?
@keithhouston.bsky.social’s interesting exploration of the question takes us along a literary translation (Emoji Dick), the challenge of universality and more:
buff.ly/D00WGXr
December 4, 2025 at 5:35 PM
Ten years ago, the OED’s word of the year was “😂”.
If this is a word, is ‘emoji’ a language?
@keithhouston.bsky.social’s interesting exploration of the question takes us along a literary translation (Emoji Dick), the challenge of universality and more:
buff.ly/D00WGXr
If this is a word, is ‘emoji’ a language?
@keithhouston.bsky.social’s interesting exploration of the question takes us along a literary translation (Emoji Dick), the challenge of universality and more:
buff.ly/D00WGXr
If you're a cyclist in West Lothian, do yourself a favour and lay your hands on Spokes' excellent cycling map: www.spokes.org.uk/2025/08/spok.... There's a new edition out soon, so the current one is going for a song.
Spokes West Lothian map – offer! « Spokes
www.spokes.org.uk
August 21, 2025 at 7:41 PM
If you're a cyclist in West Lothian, do yourself a favour and lay your hands on Spokes' excellent cycling map: www.spokes.org.uk/2025/08/spok.... There's a new edition out soon, so the current one is going for a song.
Reposted by Keith Houston
CAE 53's great reads include:
- @royinori.bsky.social on worm hunters in S. Ontario
- @keithhouston.bsky.social on emoji language
- @clearwing3.bsky.social on the history of @theonion.com
- @birdhistory.bsky.social on feather beds of the 1800s
& more!
jodiettenberg.substack.com/p/fifty-three
- @royinori.bsky.social on worm hunters in S. Ontario
- @keithhouston.bsky.social on emoji language
- @clearwing3.bsky.social on the history of @theonion.com
- @birdhistory.bsky.social on feather beds of the 1800s
& more!
jodiettenberg.substack.com/p/fifty-three
August 13, 2025 at 1:25 PM
CAE 53's great reads include:
- @royinori.bsky.social on worm hunters in S. Ontario
- @keithhouston.bsky.social on emoji language
- @clearwing3.bsky.social on the history of @theonion.com
- @birdhistory.bsky.social on feather beds of the 1800s
& more!
jodiettenberg.substack.com/p/fifty-three
- @royinori.bsky.social on worm hunters in S. Ontario
- @keithhouston.bsky.social on emoji language
- @clearwing3.bsky.social on the history of @theonion.com
- @birdhistory.bsky.social on feather beds of the 1800s
& more!
jodiettenberg.substack.com/p/fifty-three
Reposted by Keith Houston
“Empire of the Sum” in paperback is my third book this year! 🤯 Read more about it here: shadycharacters.co.uk/books/empire...
Check out Norton's new releases for the end of July! Some of the best books of 2024 are now available in paperback. Don't forget the exciting new titles to add to your reading list: wwnorton.com/reader
July 31, 2025 at 5:34 PM
“Empire of the Sum” in paperback is my third book this year! 🤯 Read more about it here: shadycharacters.co.uk/books/empire...
Reposted by Keith Houston
Do emoji constitute a language? If so, what are its rules of grammar?
@keithhouston.bsky.social dives into the linguistics of the pictograms that decorate our digital conversations in a new book, excerpted at @longreads.com
longreads.com/2025/07/01/e...
@keithhouston.bsky.social dives into the linguistics of the pictograms that decorate our digital conversations in a new book, excerpted at @longreads.com
longreads.com/2025/07/01/e...
The Emoji Tongue - Longreads
If 😂 was a word, would that make emoji a language?
longreads.com
July 17, 2025 at 1:03 PM
Do emoji constitute a language? If so, what are its rules of grammar?
@keithhouston.bsky.social dives into the linguistics of the pictograms that decorate our digital conversations in a new book, excerpted at @longreads.com
longreads.com/2025/07/01/e...
@keithhouston.bsky.social dives into the linguistics of the pictograms that decorate our digital conversations in a new book, excerpted at @longreads.com
longreads.com/2025/07/01/e...
Reposted by Keith Houston
Keeping track of numbers has always been part of what makes us human. So at some point along the way, we created a tool to help us keep count, and then we gave that tool a name. We called it: a calculator. 99pi's Lasha Madan has the story
99percentinvisible.org/episode/empi...
99percentinvisible.org/episode/empi...
Empire of the Sum - 99% Invisible
Whether or not you’re a fan of math, we’ve always had a need to count things. Maybe it’s to figure out the maximum weight an airplane can safely hold, or the appropriate amount to tip after a meal,…
99percentinvisible.org
June 14, 2025 at 2:38 PM
Keeping track of numbers has always been part of what makes us human. So at some point along the way, we created a tool to help us keep count, and then we gave that tool a name. We called it: a calculator. 99pi's Lasha Madan has the story
99percentinvisible.org/episode/empi...
99percentinvisible.org/episode/empi...
Reposted by Keith Houston
Lastly, some credit where it is due: Keith Broni at the mighty https://emojipedia.org/ reviewed the site, and Zach Leat’s 11ty (https://www.11ty.dev/) made it a pleasure to build. Thank you both! #emojipedia #11ty
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June 6, 2025 at 3:05 PM
Lastly, some credit where it is due: Keith Broni at the mighty https://emojipedia.org/ reviewed the site, and Zach Leat’s 11ty (https://www.11ty.dev/) made it a pleasure to build. Thank you both! #emojipedia #11ty
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Reposted by Keith Houston
If you want to learn even more about emoji, you can pre-order my book, “Face with Tears of Joy: A Natural History of Emoji” (shadycharacters.co.u...), which will be published next month. Not long now at all!
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June 6, 2025 at 3:05 PM
If you want to learn even more about emoji, you can pre-order my book, “Face with Tears of Joy: A Natural History of Emoji” (shadycharacters.co.u...), which will be published next month. Not long now at all!
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Reposted by Keith Houston
I really enjoyed making the site. Some programming, some thinking about emoji, some website design; I’m happy with how it came together! If you agree, please share emoji.shadycharacter... here or elsewhere. You can also reply here with your thoughts or leave a comment at shadycharacters.co.u....
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The Periodic Table of Emoji, presented by Shady Characters
The Periodic Table of Emoji
emoji.shadycharacters.co.uk
June 6, 2025 at 3:05 PM
I really enjoyed making the site. Some programming, some thinking about emoji, some website design; I’m happy with how it came together! If you agree, please share emoji.shadycharacter... here or elsewhere. You can also reply here with your thoughts or leave a comment at shadycharacters.co.u....
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Reposted by Keith Houston
I have made a thing! Visit emoji.shadycharacter... to see the Shady Characters Periodic Table of Emoji and read about how it came together. There’s a lot of detail in there, although you can read shadycharacters.co.u... to get a shorter intro.
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June 6, 2025 at 3:05 PM
I have made a thing! Visit emoji.shadycharacter... to see the Shady Characters Periodic Table of Emoji and read about how it came together. There’s a lot of detail in there, although you can read shadycharacters.co.u... to get a shorter intro.
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Reposted by Keith Houston
Why does the percent sign (%) look the way it does? It’s probably not why you think. Learn more in this post from the Shady Characters archive: shadycharacters.co.u...
(Public domain image from archive.org/stream/r....)
(Public domain image from archive.org/stream/r....)
June 1, 2025 at 7:45 PM
Why does the percent sign (%) look the way it does? It’s probably not why you think. Learn more in this post from the Shady Characters archive: shadycharacters.co.u...
(Public domain image from archive.org/stream/r....)
(Public domain image from archive.org/stream/r....)
Reposted by Keith Houston
From the Shady Characters archive: scribbled or scrawled, how do we write ampersands, and is there room for a new ampersand design? Designer Rebecca Kirch dives into the unregulated world of the handwritten "&". shadycharacters.co.u.... (Image courtesy of Rebecca Kirch.)
May 18, 2025 at 7:51 PM
From the Shady Characters archive: scribbled or scrawled, how do we write ampersands, and is there room for a new ampersand design? Designer Rebecca Kirch dives into the unregulated world of the handwritten "&". shadycharacters.co.u.... (Image courtesy of Rebecca Kirch.)
Reposted by Keith Houston
Read more at shadycharacters.co.u..., listen to the episode at 99percentinvisible.o..., and follow 99PI at @99pi.org.
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May 8, 2025 at 7:42 PM
Read more at shadycharacters.co.u..., listen to the episode at 99percentinvisible.o..., and follow 99PI at @99pi.org.
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Reposted by Keith Houston
If you've enjoyed any of my books, it's a fair bet you'd enjoy “99% Invisible” too. It's a smart and wide-ranging podcast with a focus on design, and this week it looks at emoji in the courts. I tag along to talk to host Roman Mars about the ‘💩’!
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May 8, 2025 at 7:41 PM
If you've enjoyed any of my books, it's a fair bet you'd enjoy “99% Invisible” too. It's a smart and wide-ranging podcast with a focus on design, and this week it looks at emoji in the courts. I tag along to talk to host Roman Mars about the ‘💩’!
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Reposted by Keith Houston
Anyway! Pre-orders are very welcome (the paperback will be published on the 29th of April), and you can find all the details at shadycharacters.co.u....
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April 18, 2025 at 7:45 PM
Anyway! Pre-orders are very welcome (the paperback will be published on the 29th of April), and you can find all the details at shadycharacters.co.u....
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Reposted by Keith Houston
Either way, Sarah Bibel's new cover looks amazing (www.sarahbibel.com/), and Judith Abbate's elegant, full-colour interior design is reproduced just as faithfully in this new edition. I find myself wanting to re-read one of my own books just for the physical experience of it.
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cover designs - Sarah Bibel's Portfolio
cover designs on Sarah Bibel's Portfolio
www.sarahbibel.com
April 18, 2025 at 7:45 PM
Either way, Sarah Bibel's new cover looks amazing (www.sarahbibel.com/), and Judith Abbate's elegant, full-colour interior design is reproduced just as faithfully in this new edition. I find myself wanting to re-read one of my own books just for the physical experience of it.
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Reposted by Keith Houston
A parcel arrived today from W. W. Norton: a box full of paperbacks of “The Book”! This is the first time I've seen the paperback itself, rather than only PDFs, and honestly, it looks great. Maybe even better than the hardback? (But that would be tantamount to picking a favourite child.)
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April 18, 2025 at 7:45 PM
A parcel arrived today from W. W. Norton: a box full of paperbacks of “The Book”! This is the first time I've seen the paperback itself, rather than only PDFs, and honestly, it looks great. Maybe even better than the hardback? (But that would be tantamount to picking a favourite child.)
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They got 2 or 3 of mine too. Frustrating.
Meta used at least 16 of my books, and numerous articles, to help train the AI it will use to make billions.
Authors, search your name here:
www.theatlantic.com/technology/a...
Authors, search your name here:
www.theatlantic.com/technology/a...
Search LibGen, the Pirated-Books Database That Meta Used to Train AI
Millions of books and scientific papers are captured in the collection’s current iteration.
www.theatlantic.com
March 20, 2025 at 3:43 PM
They got 2 or 3 of mine too. Frustrating.
Reposted by Keith Houston
"Oppenheimer" got me thinking about nuclear power, as I'm sure it did many of you too. Appropriately enough, then, I recently spoke to Alan Lowe of the American Museum of Science and Energy in Oak Ridge, TN, for an episode of the museum's AMSEcast podcast: shadycharacters.co.u....
February 9, 2025 at 4:39 PM
"Oppenheimer" got me thinking about nuclear power, as I'm sure it did many of you too. Appropriately enough, then, I recently spoke to Alan Lowe of the American Museum of Science and Energy in Oak Ridge, TN, for an episode of the museum's AMSEcast podcast: shadycharacters.co.u....
Reposted by Keith Houston
Why did I start Shady Characters? How does the blog work? What's the future for Shady Characters? These and other questions answered in today's post! shadycharacters.co.u... #blogquestionschallenge
January 31, 2025 at 1:55 PM
Why did I start Shady Characters? How does the blog work? What's the future for Shady Characters? These and other questions answered in today's post! shadycharacters.co.u... #blogquestionschallenge
Reposted by Keith Houston
A belated happy new year to all Shady Characters reader! I hope 2025 is treating you as well as it can. Here to ease the pain are a few links on the usual subjects of punctuation, typography and emoji: shadycharacters.co.u....
Enjoy!
Enjoy!
January 17, 2025 at 3:48 PM
A belated happy new year to all Shady Characters reader! I hope 2025 is treating you as well as it can. Here to ease the pain are a few links on the usual subjects of punctuation, typography and emoji: shadycharacters.co.u....
Enjoy!
Enjoy!
Reposted by Keith Houston
It's the 2024 Shady Characters gift guide! Which calculator should you buy your loved ones, and why is the £360 Casio S100X? Answers here: shadycharacters.co.uk/2024/12/2024...
December 16, 2024 at 2:49 PM
It's the 2024 Shady Characters gift guide! Which calculator should you buy your loved ones, and why is the £360 Casio S100X? Answers here: shadycharacters.co.uk/2024/12/2024...
Reposted by Keith Houston
It's lovely to see this exhibition by Cate Gillon, an old friend of mine, make the local paper where we grew up together. And it's a pleasant surprise for her picture of me to be featured in the article (even if I'm not the headline image 😅)! www.thecourier.co.uk/fp/news/fife...
Global bike giant boss Scott Maguire and 5 other Levenmouth former pupils who have gone far
Scott Maguire, CEO of Specialized, features in an exhibition by Kennoway photographer Cate Gillon of distinguished Levenmouth alumni.
www.thecourier.co.uk
November 29, 2024 at 10:35 AM
It's lovely to see this exhibition by Cate Gillon, an old friend of mine, make the local paper where we grew up together. And it's a pleasant surprise for her picture of me to be featured in the article (even if I'm not the headline image 😅)! www.thecourier.co.uk/fp/news/fife...