Unicode 8 Lets You Call In Sick Using Emoji

Smartphone lovers will soon be able to inform their employers through the power of emoji that they won't be making it in today. A face with a thermometer joins a taco, a unicorn, a popcorn box and a champagne bottle in the latest update to the Unicode specification that governs emoji standards.

The Unicode Consortium today announced 37 new symbols to be included in Unicode 8.0. Beyond emoji, Unicode has added lowercase Cherokee characters, better support for African languages, Arwi and Tai Ahom support and more. Today's spec also finalizes the emoji skin tone modifiers that Apple already included in their iOS 8.3 and OS X 10.10.3 updates.

Unfortunately, it may be a while before we see these new symbols on devices. While Apple already supports some parts of Unicode 8, it still hasn't fully implemented Unicode 7, which included over 250 new emoji symbols, like "man in business suit levitating" and "chipmunk."

Android has yet to implement any part of Unicode 8 or 7's emoji catalogue. Unicode 7 was, however, focused on providing compatibility with the Microsoft Webdings font, so full implementation may be skipped.

Plans are already moving forward for next year's update to emoji law. Drafts of Unicode 9 include selfie, bacon and avocado emoji.