Unicode Character 'FROWNING PILE OF POO' (U+1F979)

Great Moments in Standards Committees:

1F979 FROWNING PILE OF POO: Question on the justification for encoding this character, and whether it will encourage the encoding of other emotions on PILE OF POO; request to remove character.

MICHAEL EVERSON:

    This character is damaging to both ISO/IEC 10646 and the Unicode Standard. It is bad enough that the ESC came up with it, but it beggars believe that the UTC actually approved it. Organic waste isn't cute. The existing PILE OF POO character was added for compatibility with Japanese telco sets. It is a pity that Apple followed Softbank rather than KDDI in its reference glyph, since a coil of dog dirt with stink lines and flies is surely the only proper semantic.

    The idea that our committees would sanction further cute graphic characters based on this should embarrass absolutely everyone who votes yes on such an excrescence. Will we have a CRYING PILE OF POO next? PILE OF POO WITH TONGUE STICKING OUT? PILE OF POO WITH QUESTION MARKS FOR EYES? PILE OF POO WITH KARAOKE MIC? Will we have to encode a neutral FACELESS PILE OF POO?

    As an ordinary user, I don't want this kind of crap on my phone. As a representative of the National Standards Authority of Ireland, I have to wonder what possible good could come of encoding such a character. Bullying, perhaps? Requested change: Remove this character from the PDAM and reject its encoding.

ANDREW WEST:

    I'm concerned that this character will open the floodgates for an open-ended set of PILE OF POO emoji with emotions, such as CRYING PILE OF POO, PILE OF POO WITH LOOK OF TRIUMPH, PILE OF POO SCREAMING IN FEAR, etc. Is there really any need to add a range of emotions to PILE OF POO?

    I personally think that changing PILE OF POO to a de facto SMILING PILE OF POO was wrong, but adding F|FROWNING PILE OF POO as a counterpart is even worse. If this is accepted then there will be no neutral, expressionless PILE OF POO, so at least a PILE OF POO WITH NO FACE would be required to be encoded to restore some balance. I recommend removing FROWNING PILE OF POO pending further study and public consultation on the need for additional PILE OF POO emoji.

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Today in rectal eel news.


Chinese doctors remove live eel from constipated man's stomach after folk remedy fails him

The patient told doctors in Guangzhou that he had heard word on the street that his condition could be effectively relieved or even cured by a living eel, the Guangzhou Daily reported on Tuesday.

He was hospitalised last week when the live fish began to wreak havoc on his intestines after he inserted it in his anus, the report said.

One doctor said that when the man arrived at the hospital, his stomach was inflated like an air balloon, causing sharp pain. In surgery they found the animal had broken through the intestines and generated "a mess" in the man's abdominal cavity, "almost killing him", the doctor said.

I can't tell if this is just the same report as this one from 5 years ago with the serial numbers filed off. These Chinese ass-eel stories can be slippery. Hard to get a firm grip on the facts.

    ♬♬ When the fish up your ass
    Inflates your stomach with gas,
    That's a moray. ♬♬

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