Unicode indeed has an emoticon block (referring to emojis with facial expression) but the term actually predates the very UTF-8 itself going back to early 80s. Emoji also predates its Unicode introduction originating from Japan in late 90s.
As far as I know, the term was coined in the 90th. Please take note that i've - from the start, talked about the term, not the usage of punctuation to show faces
https://archive.org/details/ParalanguageInElectronicMail-ACa...