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This year has been tough. Smoke from wildfires has gripped the West Coast, hundreds of thousands have died from an ongoing pandemic, and the US government is deadlocked to the point of illegitimacy, unable to take measures against the economic, political, ecological and medical devastation that threatens to sink us. . Even for those who are not directly affected, the perception of ongoing crises has become a kind of psychic assault, challenging the limits of what we can express.
Fortunately, the Unicode Consortium just approved a new crop of emoji to help. They probably won’t hit your phone until 2021, but they’re clearly influenced by the chaos of the year, whether it’s “face exhausted” (clearly exhausted), “face in the clouds” (smoke?) Or “heart on fire.” “(Self-explanatory).
I’m particularly captivated by the “spiral-eyed face” emoji, submitted by Google’s emoji czar Jennifer Daniel. Also known as “bad face” (state of mind), the proposal includes suggested keywords such as “oh no”, “problem”, “wow” and “ow!” (Also mood), which could be used to activate the symbol. The general shorthand is clear enough, particularly from the anime examples included as part of the document: Spiraling eyes means dizzy, hypnotized, or generally overwhelmed to the point of not being in control of one’s actions or being. able to perceive the world.
In part, it is intended to resolve a conflict over how different platforms interpret the “x eyes” emoji, as Google and Microsoft have been interpreting that emoji like spiraling eyes for some time. But it is also an expression of the deepest incomprehensibility of the past six months, as social isolation sets in and a surreal parade of personal and global tragedies unfolds. In 2020, we all have spiral eyes.
There is also an approved tag for adding a beard to any emoji face (male or female) to convey how old it has aged in the last six months.
