Eh, I could just write [wink], or [SAD FACE].

That's exactly how emoticon placeholders worked in the days of internet forums. Things like :grin:, at least in my mind, get associated with images though; the emoticons have likely already corrupted my brain enough for that to happen.

Emoji are just the evolution of that idea. They're more pleasing to look at, as well.

Yeah, but now we have to think about it. "Hey, do we have a test for when someone types in an emoji into their credit card number?". Punks.

That's a funny example considering an input validation routine for credit cards should automatically throw out any input consisting of more than numerals and spaces. You don't need to test for Unicode or emoji when there are only 11 possibly valid characters in the input.

On a tangent, I find it interesting how many people who came up during such a period of profound change as the computing revolution, still have problems with other changes.

Yes, but the code that actually checks for the valid characters can bomb if Unicode blows its brains out.

;) and :( are universal. Yours requires English.

[guiñando] [CARA_TRISTE]

Now, what the fuck did I say? Can you figure it out? What if I chose different words?