We need dictionaries more than emojis (Watch)

The taco emoji was a victory. The emoji keyboard however, is a little much.

A company called EmojiWorks just released a series of computer keyboards featuring emojis, the emoticons that were originally only available via smartphone.

I'll admit, I was a late-adopter of emojis. I don't like how most of them look. My friend Holly has been trying to get me to use BitEmoji for months, and even though I laugh whenever I get a goofy picture from the off-shoot app, I've yet to use it myself.

But I'd be lying if I didn't say that emojis are fun and convenient. Sometimes it feels like there's no better way to quickly communicate a feeling than with a tiny image.

That's the problem though- convenience is king today. In food, in relationships, in work ethic, in communication- you name it. We've made great advancements pursuing speed and efficiency, but our love of ease can also harm us if we're not careful.

We don't have to be boring about how we talk to one another, but we should realize that relying on simplified language formats like emoticons can take away from the messages we're sending each other.

Check out William Zinsser's book "On Writing Well" and you'll see what I mean. Zinsser explains how we've diluted the meaning of individual terms by using multiple words to do the job of one.

That said, there's power in each word properly employed. Pick up a dictionary today and learn a definition, then see if you need to use that emoji to express your undying love for pizza.