Emoticons are the language of the Internet, and if you don't speak emoji, much of the world is passing you by. Now a firm in London has placed what may be the first ever job advert for a full-time emoticon translator.

情感符是互联网语言，如果你不会用表情符号交流，那你可错过太多东西了。如今伦敦一家公司发出了有史以来第一则全职情感符译员招聘启事。

Astonished face emoji.

惊讶表情符号。

This in a job advert, really?

这真的是一则招聘启事吗？

Emoji translation is itself an emerging field, but one dominated to date by software, which is often insensitive to the many cultural differences in usage and interpretation. We are therefore seeking an exceptional individual to provide the human touch needed where translation software is inadequate.

表情符号翻译本身就是一个新兴领域，迄今由软件主导，但经常对许多文化差异的使用和释义不敏感。因此我们正在寻找一位特殊人员，在翻译软件不够用的时候提供必要的人类触感。

A real job translating emojis, but why would translation software be inadequate? And here is a clue.

真实的表情符号翻译职位，但翻译软件为什么会不够用呢？下面是一条线索。

Crafty face emoji.

狡猾表情符号。

It's the emoji the Instagram social network has banned.

这是Instagram社交网络禁止的表情符号。

Eat fresh food, no?

吃新鲜食物，不对？

This emoji signifies…

这个表情符号表示……

No, I don't. But I know it's an aubergine. But I've no idea.

我不清楚，我只知道这是一根茄子，弄不懂。

Something rude.v

粗鲁的意思吧。

Yeah!

是的！

Do you know what this emoji means?

你知道这个表情符号什么意思嘛？

If it's associated with young people, it's probably sexual.

如果是和年轻人有关的，可能就含有性意味了。

Yeah, sorry.

是的，不好意思。

It's rude.

粗鲁的意思。

Oh, it's like an aubergine but it's not meant to be an aubergine. Yeah.

噢，像一根茄子，但意思不是茄子。对。

The company placing the job advert is Today Translations.

发广告的公司是今日翻译。

Bossy face emoji.

傲娇表情符号。

I asked chief executive Jurga Zilinskiene why.

我向公司总经理尤尔加?奇林斯基尼询问了缘由。

We have seen the evolution of this wonderful language which is becoming universal. It is becoming used in the so many different ways. And we are finding that it's causing a little bit of confusion somewhere. And we feel that we really need a professional sometimes to untangle inconsistencies or different interpretations. This is a potential growth area and perhaps one global universal language.

我们见证了这种神奇语言的演变过程，它正走向国际化，可以多种方式使用。而且我们发现这种语言会在某些地方造成一点困惑。我们感觉有时候确实需要一位专业人士处理不一致现象或不同的释义。这是一个有潜力的增长点，或许还是一种国际通用语言。

Now that's an interesting thing. You think this could become the language of the world or maybe has already in some ways?

这个事情有意思，你认为表情符号可能变成世界语言，或者从某种程度上说也许已经实现了？

Well, it does have potential, I think. We're seeing now even when you look at the movies with the newest blockbuster which was The Arrival. So emojis were used there in the context of communication with somebody or some other entity that could not speak any of the languages available on earth. So we are not saying that we will probably be able to communicate with entities on Mars, but at the same time, I think we really need to look at how we can communicate more globally and probably emoji will would this gap.

嗯，我认为表情符号确实有潜力。我们现在看到……甚至电影里，最新上映的大片《降临》也用到了表情符号，在和一个人或者说另一个实体交流时用到了表情符号，那个实体不会用地球上已有的语言。不是说我们以后就可能和火星上的实体交流，而是我认为真的需要研究如何更加全球化地沟通，表情符号可能会缩小这个差距。

Naughty face emoji.

顽皮表情符号。

And she is the expert I have to ask.

她是我必须请教的专家。