Cher overjoyed.

Via NYDN:

The Oxford Dictionaries’ Word of the Year 2015 isn’t a word at all, but the “face with tears of joy” emoji.

This is the first time that the Oxford University Press’ annual pick for a term to sum up an entire year has been a pictograph instead of, well, an actual word.

“Emojis are no longer the preserve of texting teens – instead, they have been embraced as a nuanced form of expression, and one which can cross language barriers,” the judges explained in a blog post on Tuesday night.

The smiley face shedding tears was the most used emoji across the globe this year. The judges posted tweets from Zendaya and Domino’s Pizza using the ubiquitous icon, and another post from Hillary Clinton calling on voters to tweet emojis at her, to boost their argument that these images embody the way people express themselves in the digital realm today.

But many people used their words – strongly – to complain about the controversial pick.