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Emojis Of 2018: Bagels, Kangaroos, Redheads Are In. 'Frowning Pile Of Poo' Is Out

Redheads are a step closer to becoming new emojis.
Emojipedia
Redheads are a step closer to becoming new emojis.

Dozens of new emojis are planned for 2018.

One of the most popular additions? Redheads.

"People felt like they were getting left out," says Jeremy Burge of the Unicode Emoji Subcommittee. It's part of the Unicode Consortium, which sets the international standards for emojis, among other things.

"Even though I don't have red hair myself, that was the number one request we got for the last two years running. So I felt like I should step up and try and make that happen," Burge tells NPR's Weekend All Things Considered.

People with red hair, white hair and no hair at all are likely to see themselves represented in 2018.

Other contenders include:

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Emojipedia

A softball. It's "differentiated from a baseball by size (it is larger, though hard to tell in emoji form) and color (yellow, not white)," according to Emojipedia, a website devoted to every minute change that has happened to the 2,600 emojis over the years.

A kangaroo.

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Emojipedia

A "Face With Smiling Eyes And Party Horn And Party Hat."

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Emojipedia

A bagel emoji. No word on cream cheese, though.

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Emojipedia

Sixty-seven emojis made the initial list of new additions, but since then, the number has been winnowed down by three.

Michael Everson was one of the impassioned commenters who helped kill the "Frowning Pile Of Poo."

"Why do we need to send a picture of this!" he tells NPR. "It's just offensive, needlessly offensive and pointless. It's not cute, it's not funny, it isn't good in any particular way."

The final decision about the 2018 emoji list will be made at the Unicode Technical Meeting in January, according to Emojipedia, which Burge runs. Emojipedia writes that we can expect the new picks "to roll out on major platforms in the second half of 2018."

Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

James Doubek is an associate editor and reporter for NPR. He frequently covers breaking news for NPR.org and NPR's hourly newscast. In 2018, he reported feature stories for NPR's business desk on topics including electric scooters, cryptocurrency, and small business owners who lost out when Amazon made a deal with Apple.
Matthew S. Schwartz is a reporter with NPR's news desk. Before coming to NPR, Schwartz worked as a reporter for Washington, DC, member station WAMU, where he won the national Edward R. Murrow award for feature reporting in large market radio. Previously, Schwartz worked as a technology reporter covering the intricacies of Internet regulation. In a past life, Schwartz was a Washington telecom lawyer. He got his J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center, and his B.A. from the University of Michigan ("Go Blue!").
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