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PanARMENIAN.Net – The Unicode Consortium just approved a new crop of emoji. They probably won’t hit your phone until 2021, but they’re clearly swayed by the chaos of 2020, whether it’s “face exhaling” (clearly exhausted), “face in the clouds” (smoke?), Or “heart on fire.” (self-explanatory) reports The Verge.
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.
The “spiral-eyed face” emoji, posted by Google’s emoji czar Jennifer Daniel, is particularly so. Also known as “upset face” (state of mind), the proposal includes suggested keywords such as “oh no”, “trouble”, “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’s meant to resolve a conflict in how different platforms interpret the “x eyes” emoji, as Google and Microsoft have been interpreting that emoji as a spiraling eye 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.
