還有這種職業？！也許你還不知道

We spend a lot of time each day looking at, tweeting, and texting emoji, but few of us get paid to do so. Keith Broni, on the other hand, makes his living doing just that.

我們每天都會花上大量的時間瀏覽表情符號，會在微博上發送表情符號，發送表情包短信息，但是甚少有人因此而獲得酬勞。Keith Broni，從另一方面來說，就是通過發送表情符號而謀生的人。

Last December, London-based translation company Today Translations put out a call for an “emoji translator.” The job listing made news, partly because of its novelty — it’s believed to be the first role of its kind — and partly because it just sounds like so much fun. Who doesn’t want to spend their day looking at emoji?

去年12月，總部設在倫敦翻譯公司Today Translations就公開招募了“表情包譯員”。這份工作的招聘啓事還受到了媒體的關注報道，一部分原因是其新鮮感——據說是這種類型譯員的首創，並且也有一部分原因是這個職位聽起來好像很有趣的樣子。誰不想看着表情包度過一天呢？

Today Translations received over 500 applications, and the interview process took five months, but Broni emerged as the winning candidate. You can’t major in emoji translation (at least, not yet), but Broni’s educational background does complement the role. The Irishman graduated from University College London with a Master’s degree in business psychology. His dissertation, which was entitled using only emoji, looked at the ways that consumer behavior can influence how we perceive emoji in combination with various brand names.

Today Translations公司收到了超過500位求職申請，並且整個面試流程花費了5個月的時間，不過Broni 就從衆多的求職者中脫穎而出。你無法把表情符號翻譯當作主修科目（至少，目前還不行），但是Broni的教育背景確實完善了這個角色。這位愛爾蘭人從英國倫敦大學學院畢業，並獲得了商務心理學的碩士學位。他的畢業論文，主題就是圍繞僅僅使用表情符號，去觀測消費者行爲影響人們對錶情符號結合不同品牌名字的感覺的方式。

Broni’s passion for emoji — a job requirement, obviously — is so strong that he organized Europe’s first Emoji Spelling Bee, in which contestants were given a limited amount of time to convert a phrase into emoji. When Today Translations posted the job, multiple friends sent Broni the listing, recognizing that it was a natural fit for a man whose days were already defined by hearts, smileys, and thumbs-up icons.

Broni對於表情符號的熱情（很顯然，是職業所需）是如此的強烈，幫助他組織了歐洲首屆表情符號拼寫比賽。在比賽過程中，參賽者需要在規定時間內把短語轉換成表情符號。而當Today Translations公司發佈了這個職位廣告的時候，許多朋友就給Broni發送這個招聘信息，並且都認爲這個職位對於那個整天沉迷於心型圖案，微信表情以及大拇指點贊表情的男人來說就是完美職業。

The interview process began with a short emoji test, asking applicants to decipher the meanings of some emoji combinations, as well as write a few sentences exclusively in emoji. The test was followed by a phone interview and then a presentation on what a handbook for using emoji might look like.

面試流程以簡短的表情符號測試開始，要求求職者們破譯一些表情符號組合的含義，以及僅使用表情符號來寫一些句子。通過這個測試之後就會有一次電話面試，然後便是進行關於使用表情符號爲主要文字的手冊設計的講演展示。

The job, as fun as it might seem, is far more complicated than it sounds. “The hardest things I’ve had to translate are ones where the intention is for it to be highly universal,” Broni explains during a phone interview with Refinery29. Even though emoji are often referred to as the new universal language, meanings can vary widely from one culture to the next. Take the thumbs up emoji.

這個職位，正如它看起來似乎很有趣，複雜程度卻遠遠比它聽起來要大。“我需要翻譯出來最困難的部分就是那些本意表達非常通用的表情符號。”Broni在電話面試裏解釋了Refinery29這個時髦女性表情符號的形象。儘管表情符號常常被解讀爲新的普適語言，但是在不同文化背景下它們的含義就會大不相同。我們大拇指朝上的表情符號爲例。

“It’s very popular in the West, and is the ubiquitous Facebook icon, but in the Middle East it’s equivalent to an offense, like giving someone the middle finger,” Broni says.

“這個表情符號在西方很常見，也是Facebook網站到處可見的圖標了，但是在中東地方這個表情符號卻會冒犯到他人，就像我們平時向別人比中指的意思。”Broni表示。

The same goes for the A-Okay hand gesture, which Broni says can be very offensive in Latin America. Even the basic happy face isn’t so basic. In China, Broni says it’s often used to convey that you’re finished, or done with a conversation.

同樣的情況也見之於“OK”手勢表情符號。Broni表示這個符號在拉丁美洲是非常挑釁的動作。甚至連基本的笑臉表情也不一般。Broni表示，在中國微笑表情常常表示你已經結束一件事，或用來結束對話。

Even though emoji are often referred to as the new universal language, meanings can vary widely from one culture to the next.

儘管表情符號常常被稱爲新的普適語言，但是在不同文化背景下它們的含義就會大不相同。

Another element that complicates emoji interpretation is which device you’re using to view the icons. Since smartphone makers such as Samsung and Apple are allowed to design their own, system-appropriate renditions of the characters, how they appear can differ if you’re using one type of phone to send an emoji to a friend with another type of phone. On Samsung phones, for example, Broni says that the rolling eyes emoji looks slightly hopeful, while the smirking face looks more “meh” and less flirty than it does on iOS. Let this be a word to the wise: You might want to rethink texting an emoji after a first date, given the potential for some major misinterpretation.

另外一個造成表情符號破譯複雜性的原因就是你用以查看這些圖標的設備。雖然諸如三星和蘋果這些智能手機制造商有獨立設計表情符號的權利，但是如果系統適用的表情符號解讀器的呈現形式不同，當你從一部手機發送一個符號給另一個朋友的手機時，所解讀出來的意思就會不一樣。Broni舉三星手機爲例子，翻白眼的表情符號看起來有一點帶有希望的感覺，而那個傻笑的表情就會看起來更像“無聊”的感覺，並且不像它在iOS系統上看起來那麼輕浮。就這麼說吧：考慮到造成重大誤解的可能性，你可能會重新考慮第一次約會結束後發送表情符號的做法。

Broni’s job is to create an etiquette guide breaking down not only the meanings of individual emoji in different cultures, but also the meanings of strings of emoji together and emoji variations across devices. It’s a monumental task and one that, if done incorrectly, has the potential to incite social outrage.

Broni的工作就是創建一份禮儀指南，不僅破解每個獨立表情符號在不同文化背景下的含義，還有表情符號組合的含義以及在不同設備間表情符號的含義。這是一個極大的任務，並且如果解讀有誤，就有可能激起社會憤怒。

The introduction of new emoji every year means Broni will need to constantly update any guide he creates. “I’m most fascinated to see how they impact the usage trends of preexisting emoji,” Broni says of the upcoming release of Emoji 5.0. “Will mind-blown become the new emoji synonym for wow instead of the current mouth wide open emoji?”

每年新增的表情符號，意味着Broni就要不斷地更新修改他所創建的指南。“我很着迷於觀察它們是如何影響着已有的表情符號的使用趨勢的。”Broni指的是即將發佈的Emoji 5.0。“震驚的表情是否成爲等同於驚訝的新表情，而不是原來的張大嘴巴的表情呢？”

Unfortunately, Today Translations hasn’t put out a call for another emoji translator yet. Still, you might want to start prepping now should the opportunity arise again. In the meantime, you should probably avoid inserting emoji into upcoming job applications. Though Broni says the icons have become acceptable as their popularity grows, they’re still rarely deemed appropriate in formal communications. Best to stick with the tried and true guidelines and save the (IRL) smiley face for your in-person interview.

然而不巧的是，Today Translations公司還沒有公開招聘新的表情符號譯員。並且，你可能想從現在就開始準備，等待着招聘機會再次到來。與此同時，你可能要避免在接下來的求職申請中附上表情符號。雖然Broni表示這些圖標隨着它們的興起逐漸被人們所接受，但是它們仍然在正式的交往語境下幾乎是不合適的。你最好還是堅持經過考驗是好的方法指引，把你的微笑表情留到親自面試吧。

聲明：本雙語文章的中文翻譯系滬江英語原創內容，轉載請註明出處。中文翻譯僅代表譯者個人觀點，僅供參考。如有不妥之處，歡迎指正。