[xzsinu]

I've never heard emoticons referred to as emoji, mainly because people don't use emoticons anymore (unless they still post on forums). It seems like a deliberate editorial decision. I would prefer to preserve the distinction, however, for reasons GP stated.

[JohnFen]

I use emoticons when texting (because I'm a graybeard), but my phone translates them into emojis before sending. So I've just taken to calling them all emojis.

[oneeyedpigeon]

My beard might be even greyer because I still think of them as 'smileys' :)

[JohnFen]

It took me years to change the habit of calling them smileys!

[ClassyJacket]

Do you mean you use smileys like :) :( :P ?

Emotions were the little images you could place amongst text in MSN Messenger.

[Nition]

As far as I recall it was pretty common to call :-) etc emoticons back in the day. Like 1990s/early 2000s.

[mcpackieh]

Emoticons were originally and predominately text based ¯\_(-_-)_/¯