Story：When an emoji loses its mojo
【明報專訊】''GIVE me a smile!'' Mr Miles was always miles away from his family. The only way he could talk to his kid Sunny was to use webcams. That had worked for years, until his son Sunny went to high school.
Now they used an instant messaging app to contact each other. Though miles away, Mr Miles still cared a lot about Sunny. Sunny, a caring kid, didn't want to worry his father. His message always ended with an emoji, which is a smile, or an exclamation mark.
(picture 2)
Don't you think the second and the third replies look less worrying? Of course it is naive to think that such a symbol may fool one into believing his son is alright. But Mr Miles was miles away from home. It was hard for him to know what his son was doing.
Both of them were busier. And their greetings turned into something like:
(picture 3)
Their ''conversations'' were as time-efficient as they were useless.
Sunny was gonna have his final exam before graduation. He went the extra mile to make sure he would come first in class. Right before the exam day, he caught a serious cold... Despite that, he still insisted on taking the exam.
Sunny's condition turned more critical. While he was walking to school, he suddenly fell to the ground... Afterwards Mrs Miles was told that her son had passed out!
Without further ado, she phoned her husband and told him Sunny's situation.
When Sunny was awake hours later, he saw that Mr Miles had sent him a message.
(picture 4)
This time it stood out a mile that Sunny was faking.
His phone rang and it was Mr Miles' call.
''Hey Sunny. Why don't you tell me you're sick?''
''Hi Dad. What do you mean?''
''I mean... Your emoji loses its mojo!''
◆Food for thought
True, emojis may smoothen relations. But they're no panacea. At the end of the day, face-to-face communication is still the best way to sort things out!
■Gear up
Refer to the story and circle the correct answer.
(1) Sunny's dad lives close to his son. ( True / False / Not given )
(2) Sunny dies at the end. ( True / False / Not given )
(3) Sunny's emojis lose their supernatural (神奇的) power. (True / False / Not given)
(Answers on next text)
■Glossary
go the extra mile (idiom) 盡更多努力
stand out a mile (idiom) 顯而易見
mojo (n) 魔力
panacea (n) 萬靈藥
[Smarties' Power English 第277期]
