Dear lord. It’s happening.

A few weeks ago we joked that an emoji keyboard is necessary in 2015 because words are heinously overrated. Now, our claims have been confirmed by the Oxford Dictionaries, which has officially crowned the ‘Word of the Year’ for 2015. The only problem is that it’s not a word, it’s the ‘Face with tears of Joy’ emoji.

Apparently, this particular emoji was chosen because it was the “‘word’ that best reflected the ethos, mood, and preoccupations of 2015.” People all over the world must have been laughing an awful lot this year, because it apparently accounted for 17% of all emoji use in the United States, and 20% of that in the UK. Moreover, the word ’emoji’ itself has tripled in use from 2014.

“Although emoji have been a staple of texting teens for some time, emoji culture exploded into the global mainstream over the past year. Emoji have come to embody a core aspect of living in a digital world that is visually driven, emotionally expressive, and obsessively immediate,” Oxford Dictionaries said in a press release.

Well, there you have it. The future is now, and words will soon become obsolete. You can view the shortlisted contenders for ‘Word of the Year’ below, and let’s just thank Jesus Christ that it’s not ‘on fleek’:

ad blocker, noun: A piece of software designed to prevent advertisements from appearing on a web page.

Brexit, noun: A term for the potential or hypothetical departure of the United Kingdom from the European Union, from British + exit.

Dark Web, noun: The part of the World Wide Web that is only accessible by means of special software, allowing users and website operators to remain anonymous or untraceable.

on fleek, adjectival phrase: Extremely good, attractive, or stylish.

lumbersexual, noun: A young urban man who cultivates an appearance and style of dress (typified by a beard and check shirt) suggestive of a rugged outdoor lifestyle.

refugee, noun: A person who has been forced to leave their country in order to escape war, persecution, or natural disaster.

sharing economy, noun: An economic system in which assets or services are shared between private individuals, either for free or for a fee, typically by means of the Internet.

they (singular), pronoun: Used to refer to a person of unspecified sex.