diff --git a/examples/unicode.php b/examples/unicode.php
index feb9877..b0f4fd6 100644
--- a/examples/unicode.php
+++ b/examples/unicode.php
@@ -11,3 +11,5 @@ uprintf("\u2581\u2582\u2583\u2584\u2585\u2586\u2587\u2589 \u2591\u2592\u2593\u25
 uprintf("\u2610 Unchecked box\n");
 uprintf("\u2611 Checked box\n");
 uprintf("\u2612 Crossed out box\n");
+
+echo "This ".U(0x2585)." is a test\n";
diff --git a/lib/unicode.php b/lib/unicode.php
index dbd0d00..72e68c1 100644
--- a/lib/unicode.php
+++ b/lib/unicode.php
@@ -13,6 +13,11 @@ class UnicodeShim
             return json_decode('"'.'\u'.dechex($ord).'"');
         }
 
+        function U($ord)
+        {
+            return uchr($ord);
+        }
+
         function uprintf($arg)
         {
             $str = call_user_func_array('sprintf', func_get_args());