Bless the Unicode Consortium for enabling humans to express themselves more freely through the universal language of emoji. Ahead of World Emoji Day on July 17 (i.e. the date shown on the calendar icon), Unicode Emoji Subcommittee-Chair Jennifer Daniel offered a peek at nine new designs that should hit your devices by next spring.
I can already tell Cracking Face is immediately going to be one of my most-used emoji. I imagine it’ll be a useful alternative to Melting Face, which I have on heavy rotation. It depicts a smiling face that’s crumbling apart, indicating a facade of positivity behind which one is not okay.
When the Unicode Technical Committee (UTC) accepted several emoji for the Unicode 18 list in October last year, a Face with Squinting Eyes option was included. That changed in January, when the UTC replaced it with Cracking Face. That’s perhaps a more fitting emoji for these everything-is-fine-jk-not-at-all times.
Along similar lines we have the Meteor, which looks like a flaming meatball. As Daniel points out, there’s a clear distinction between the Comet (an existing emoji that at one point someone changed to look like a hunk of rock careening through the atmosphere) and the Meteor. One is a celestial object that streaks harmlessly across the sky. The other wiped out the dinosaurs. So, as the Meteor arrives for us to perhaps use as a way to depict annihilation, the Comet will return to an icy blue look on many devices.
In addition, there’s an Eraser emoji and a Net With Handle. The latter matches up with the new Monarch Butterfly, which you may use to indicate beauty, much like the existing Morpho butterfly. However, there’s a reason for having two of the winged insects among the emoji options.
“If this emoji looks familiar… you’re not going crazy. That’s because depending on what phone your friends use, you might have been texting them a Monarch butterfly while they were looking at a Morpho,” Daniel wrote. “The blue Morpho is locked down globally as the symbol for ‘pretty aesthetics’ and manicured Instagram feeds. The Monarch is an entirely different beast. This update finally fixes that fragmentation making way for [the] Monarch butterfly to land in its own brand-new home.” Daniel added that the Monarch “introduces a different weight class of meaning, carrying a narrative of generational resilience, endurance and deep ancestral memory.”
This batch of emoji also includes a Lighthouse and two hands with thumbs that point left and right, respectively. Handy for your “what has two thumbs and uses way too many emoji? This person” gags or Rob Van Dam impressions.
Then there’s the Pickle emoji. Please never send me a Pickle emoji. I would have no choice but to reply with a 🤮 or 🤢. Or just block you.
