You’re scrolling through a text thread, trying to describe that specific feeling of "aggressive relaxation" or maybe you just want a simple icon for a bag of potato chips. You search the keyboard. Nothing. It feels like a glitch, right? We have a literal "Input Symbol for Latin Capital Letters," but we don't have a pink heart until recently? It's weird. This gap between what we want to say and what we can actually click on is exactly why the conversation around emojis that we need never actually dies down. It’s a mix of cultural frustration and a massive misunderstanding of how a nonprofit in California basically gatekeeps the world’s digital body language.
Most people think Apple or Google just wakes up and decides to add a taco. That’s not how it works.
Every single glyph on your phone has to go through the Unicode Consortium. They are the librarians of the internet. If they don't give it a code point, it doesn't exist. This process is slow. It’s painful. It’s why we’re constantly left wondering why certain obvious symbols are missing from our digital vocabulary. Honestly, the barrier to entry is higher than most people realize, involving a multi-page proposal that proves the image has "frequent use" and isn't just a passing fad like a specific meme.
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Why the Unicode Process Feels So Broken
The Unicode Consortium isn't trying to be the fun police, but they kinda act like it. Their main goal is "text encoding." They want to make sure that if I send a character from an iPhone in Tokyo, it doesn't show up as a broken "tofu" box on a laptop in Berlin. This technical stability is the priority. But for us? We just want a damn "sarcasm" emoji.
Jennifer Daniel, who chairs the Unicode Emoji Subcommittee, has been pretty vocal about the fact that emojis are not a language, but a supplement to it. Yet, the public treats them like the alphabet. When we talk about emojis that we need, we’re usually talking about representation or hyper-specific objects. But Unicode has a rule: no logos, no specific people, and no "redundant" images. That’s why you’ll never see a Coca-Cola emoji or a Nike swoosh, no matter how much people use those brands.
The "Universal" Trap
Here is the kicker. For a new emoji to be accepted, it has to be "globally recognizable." This is why a lot of food items get rejected. If a specific snack is only popular in the Midwest of the United States, it fails the "global" test. It’s a weirdly high bar for something we use to tell someone we’re running late.
The Most Requested Emojis That We Need Right Now
If you look at the data from Emojipedia—the literal Bible of this stuff—the requests are surprisingly consistent. People aren't asking for complex metaphors. They want the basics.
- The "Hurry Up" or "Gentle Nudge" gesture: We have a clock. We have a running man. But we don't have that specific hand motion that says "get a move on."
- A simple "No" or "End of Discussion": Sure, we have the "X" and the "No Entry" sign. But they feel too corporate. We need something that carries the emotional weight of a door slamming, but politely.
- The White Wine Problem: This is a classic. We have red wine. We have champagne. We have tropical drinks with umbrellas. Why is there no Chardonnay? People have been submitting formal proposals for a white wine emoji for years. It’s become a symbol of the "missing" tier of digital icons.
- A "Sarcasm" Indicator: This is the Holy Grail. Because tone is so hard to read over text, a specific "I am joking" or "this is satire" symbol is arguably the most important of the emojis that we need to prevent actual fights.
The logic for rejecting white wine is usually that it's "too specific" and that the existing wine glass is sufficient. But that ignores how people actually use these icons. Emojis aren't just data; they’re vibes. If the vibe is "chilled Pinot Grigio on a patio," a room-temperature red wine emoji just doesn't hit the same.
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The Politics of the Keyboard
It’s not just about snacks and drinks. It’s about identity.
The introduction of diverse skin tones in 2015 was a massive turning point. Before that, the "default" was a Simpsons-yellow that didn't feel neutral to everyone. Since then, the push for emojis that we need has shifted toward disability representation and gender neutrality. We’ve seen the inclusion of wheelchairs, prosthetic limbs, and gender-neutral individuals. But there’s always a lag.
Take the "Period" emoji (the red drop). It took years of campaigning by Plan International UK to get that approved. They had to fight through the "gross-out" factor of male-dominated tech boards to prove that menstruation is a global reality for billions of people. It wasn't just about a drop of blood; it was about breaking a stigma. This is where the "need" moves from "I want a taco" to "I want to be seen."
Why More Emojis Might Actually Be a Bad Thing
Actually, there is a counter-argument. Some linguists worry that if we get every single emoji we ask for, the keyboard becomes unusable. We’re already at over 3,000 characters.
If you have to scroll through fifteen different types of bread to find a baguette, the efficiency of the emoji is dead. This is the "clutter" problem. The more specific an emoji is, the less "flexible" it becomes. A generic "sparkles" ✨ emoji is great because it can mean "clean," "magic," "new," or "excited." If we had a specific "This Kitchen Is Clean" emoji, it would only ever mean one thing. It loses the poetry.
What You Can Actually Do About It
If you’re genuinely annoyed that a specific symbol is missing, you don't have to just sit there and take it. You can actually write a proposal. The Unicode Consortium accepts submissions from the public. It’s a massive amount of work—you need to provide search frequency data, Google Trends charts, and a solid argument for why the image is "iconic."
But honestly? Most of us won't do that. We'll just keep using combinations like the "eye-roll" and the "clown" to express our frustration.
Practical Steps for Navigating the Missing Emoji Gap:
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- Use "Kaomoji" or Text Art: When the standard set fails you, go old school.
(╯°□°）╯︵ ┻━┻says "I am frustrated" way better than any 2D yellow face ever could. - Custom Stickers: If you're on WhatsApp or iMessage, use apps to create your own stickers. If Unicode won't give you a "deep-dish pizza" icon, just make one from a photo. It bypasses the gatekeepers entirely.
- Check the Pipeline: Before you get mad, check the Unicode "Beta" or "Draft" lists. Often, the emojis that we need are already approved and just waiting for the next iOS or Android update to ship.
- Embrace the Generic: Try to use existing emojis in "off-label" ways. The "goat" 🐐 is rarely about the animal anymore; it's about being the Greatest Of All Time. That's the beauty of the system—we decide what they mean, not the engineers in Mountain View.
The reality is that our digital language will always be five steps behind our actual culture. That’s just the nature of software. But as long as we keep pushing for better representation and more accurate "vibes," the keyboard will slowly, slowly catch up. Until then, we're stuck using the "glass of milk" for things it was never intended for.