The Unicode Consortium is the group that runs the official set of EMOJIS, and they just announced the 117 new ones that will be hitting our phones this year. Some are impractical . . . like, did we really need a fondue pot emoji? Are people really texting that often about fondue-related situations? But there are plenty in here that will get a lot of use. We are very excited becasue one of the emojis resembles Detroit radio legen Dick Purtan!! It is a smiling face with bushy eyebrows and mustache!
Some of the other new emojis are a ninja, blueberries, a seal, several different bugs, a rock, a tombstone, a feather, a roller skate, a flip-flop, an accordion, a magic wand, a boomerang, a toothbrush, a needle and thread, a ladder, a toilet plunger, an actual human heart, a hook, a piñata, and a hand making a pinching gesture like a mafia guy would use in a movie while talking and gesturing.
The emojis also focus heavily on gender. They've added the transgender flag and transgender symbol, along with non-gendered versions of a person in a tux, a person in a wedding dress, a person feeding a baby, and Santa Claus.
