From the simple smiley to the wide range of hand gestures, emojis have made a lasting mark on the way the tech-savvy generation communicates. And last January 29, Emojipedia just announced the approval of 117 new emojis this year. This new set of soon-to-be-released icons includes a lot of gender-inclusive characters, as well as hand gestures like the “Italian hand-pinching sign”.
Here are some of our favorite picks from the new selection of emojis:
Bubble tea emoji
It’s the perfect emoji to send to your friends and colleagues when you want to take a short milk tea break.
Hugging emoji
When someone you love is down on the dumps or you’ve got a friend who just went through a “bloody” breakup, sending this emoji will surely brighten up their moods. It will also show them that you care enough to check up on them via text messaging and online chat.
Pinching hand emoji
The hand-pinching emoji or what others call the “Italian hand-pinching gesture” has been a popular icon in pop culture. For some, it could signify the question: what do you mean? While for others, it can be used to emphasize an Italian phrase or saying. Whatever the case may be, we’re just really happy this emoji will soon be available for use.
Mother/Father feeding baby emoji
These images (in our opinion) could be an ode to single parents who just want the best for their kids. So kudos to Emojipedia for including this!
Transgender flag emoji
The transgender community is finally being recognized in emoji form–and we’re definitely all for it!
Watch the video below to see their full lineup of Emojis for this year:
Read more from InqPOP!:
‘Star Wars’ fan starts petition for a Baby Yoda emoji
Women plan on using the ‘pinching hand’ emoji as a clapback to unsolicited pics