About

The Emoji Word Challenge refers to a series of Internet Challenge videos on TikTok where a user shows a series of Emojis over their head then says a word or phrase in the emotion or style of each shown Emoji. The trend, set to an instrumental version of "Say Something" by A Great Big World, became popular on TikTok in late July throughout August 2022.

Origin

It is unclear who first started the acting trend. On July 28th, 2022, several TikTokers,^[1][2][3] including @jason.nms, @ians_mad and @its_itch uploaded videos where they say a single word in several different emotions, each emotion shown through an Emoji over their head. The most popular versions were @jason.nms' upload (shown below, left) with over 7.8 million views in three days, and @its_itch's video, gaining over 5.8 million views in the same span of time (shown below, right).

Spread

The trend became notably popular over the following days as TikTokers said various words, often funny, over a selection of Emojis. On July 30th, TikTokers^[4][5] @liammillerr and @turtlewithhat posted videos where they say "slay" and "you're gay" in various way respectively, gaining over 12.8 million and 7.4 million views in three days (shown below, left and right).

On July 31st, TikToker^[6] @femomvny10 posted a video where he says "damn that ass is fat" over the Emojis, gaining over 8.4 million views in two days (shown below).

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References