Microsoft introduces middle finger emoji (that doesn't look like a middle finger)

The emoji has come of age. By which we mean, it's entered its aggressive, petulant teenage years.

As part of a full emoji overhaul for its upcoming Windows 10 operating system, Microsoft is introducing this neat little expressive shorthand: 'Reversed hand with middle finger extended'.

Catalogued by emoji obsessives of Emojipedia, the Windows 10 emoji features include a shift to gray becoming the preferred 'neutral' skin tone, a vast new diversity of skin tone options for most character emoji, a vulcan hand salute, tweaks to many of the standard faces and the above profanity.

First created by the emoji gods of Unicode 7 in 2014, Windows 10 will be the first operating system to give its users the option to vent their frustrations in 'obvious' fashion. No longer will disgruntled typists have to resort to odd combinations along the lines of [fist bump emoji] [angry face] [fireworks emoji].

That said, the minimalism of the middle finger design leaves the new emoji looking only vaguely like its offensive source: you might have to explain to your parents why they shouldn't be sending it to the rest of the family, having mistaken it for one of the following...

An upsidedown mushroom

Silly, we realise, but once you flip it 180 degrees it looks much more like a mushroom than a sweary hand

A reclining Pinocchio

"I'm a real *hic* boy" [collapses to floor]

A falling ice lolly

Darn...

A falling toffee apple

Again, darn...

A rapidly descending jellyfish

Sort of...

A raised ring finger

If you liked it then you should have put a ring on it

(Images: Shutterstock)