Officially known as “Pinched Fingers”, the new emoji is one of 117 expected to make it onto devices by September or October 2020.
The emoji dictionary Emojipedia defines the icon as: “an emoji showing all fingers and thumb held together in a vertical orientation, sometimes referred to as the Italian hand gesture ma che vuoi [what do you want?].”
Usually performed while flicking the wrist up and down, the gesture can mean anything from “are you serious?”, to “come on”, or “what the hell”.
It is included in the Emoji 13.0 update, following a request filed by US-based Italian journalist and entrepreneur Adriano Farano and two others.
“Thanks to Italian immigration and the growing popularity of its way of life, Italian gestures are unique and bear a cultural meaning both in Italian speaking areas and worldwide such as to deserve a place as an emoji,” they argued in an official submission to the Unicode Consortium, the body that sets standards for emojis.
“Adding the ‘what do you want?’ emoji would not only be a useful addition for the Italian diaspora abroad who is still proud of its origins.
“It would also, more broadly, offer users a much needed expression to engage in animated conversations by adding a touch of humour.”
The emoji could also be used in other contexts depending on where you are in the world: in Nigeria, it was suggested the gesture could be the emoji version of “gbas gbos” – a back-and-forth argument – and in India it could be a way of asking if somebody is hungry.
K-Pop fans will also associate the emoji with the singer Yuri, who is known for making a gesture with her hand in the shape of a dumpling.
The Emoji 13.0 update also includes gender-neutral wedding symbols and the transgender flag.
