Embrace the language of the future: Emoji

来自FreeGrit潇洒毅行的导读：
微信中我们常用的各种表情符号（emoji），用英文怎么说？老外是否会正确使用表情符号呢？每个国家，用得最多的表情是哪些？今天为大家整合了两篇关于emoji的文章，再了解如何用英文表达情感的同时，课上我还会与你们分享，我在悉尼留学和老外的交流中，在facebook、whats app 中一些常用的表情、聊天缩写等，希望对你有用~

Nowadays, there are so many ways for people to communicate. Particularly in today’s digital world, the colourful little icons known as emoji have become so popular that almost everyone uses them to express their emotions. In 2015, the Oxford English Dictionary even declared the “face with tears of joy”as its word of the year. From ordinary people’s daily messages to celebrity tweets, a single pictograph or a chain of emoji can speak more than a thousand words.

pictograph [’piktəuɡrɑ:f, -ɡræf]
n. 象形文字

Unlike most languages you’re familiar with, emoji effectively has few rules for grammar, vocabulary, syntax or semantics. The term was born in late–1990s Japan as “picture” (e) + “character” (moji) and featured prominently in electronic messages and on web pages. This quirky Japanese idea became popular on a global scale with the development of social media and the use of the emoji keyboard on Apple’s iOS operating system.

semantics [si’mæntiks]
n. 语义学
prominent [’prɔminənt]
adj. 显著地，突出杰出的
quirky [’kwə:ki]
adj. 古怪的

Most Frequently Used Emojis Per Country

“Emojis are the first time we’ve had a universal method of sending emotions as pictures,” says Jeremy Burge, founder of reference website Emojipedia, which he launched in 2013 to document all the emoji symbols and meanings in the Unicode Standard system. “The way I see emoji is as a one-off event that will never happen again as long as we use text keyboards for communicating. It’s remarkable that, seemingly overnight, we got an additional keyboard that’s installed by default on every phone in the world.”

one-off [’wʌnɔf, -ɔ:f]
adj.一次性的，只会发生一次的
难句翻译：
The way I see emoji is as a one-off event that will never happen again as long as we use text keyboards for communicating.
我看待Emoji表情符号，是这样的：只要我们还用文字键盘交流，再也不会发生像Emoji这样前所未有的现象了(one-off event，只发生一次，再也不会发生的现象）

The usage of these ideograms differs across various countries and platforms. For example, a recent analysis of the “Emoji Usage of Smartphone Users” by scholars from Peking University says that in France, people are more likely to use emoji, with 19.8% of messages involving at least one. (The most frequently used emoji in the country is .) Russia and the US are following, but with as the most used emoji. On the other hand, on Twitter, the most tweeted emoji in France is , and Italy and Japan share a similar love of the heart. As for the US, Canada and the UK, they just don’t seem to be as happy.

ideograph [’idiəuɡrɑ:f, ’aidi-, -ɡræf]
n. 象形文字

The translation of emoji in different countries can also be a tricky thing. Burge explains that emoji use tends to fall into two categories: literal and figurative. “For instance, people in the US have started using the ”WC“ emoji to mean ”woman crush“ instead of its original meaning, ”water closet“ for the toilet/bathroom,” he says.

tricky [’triki]
adj. 需要技巧的，棘手的，微妙的
literal [’litərəl]
adj. 字面的
figurative [’fiɡjurətiv]
adj. 修饰的，比喻的
closet [’klɔzit]
n. 橱柜

A Guide to Using WeChat Emojis

It is very difficult to talk to Chinese people without using emojis. Whenever a Chinese friend Facebook messages me, I feel compelled to reply with WeChat because there are messages and nuances that can only be expressed with emojis that only exist on WeChat.

compel [kəm’pel]
vt. 强迫
复习，上次Emma 演讲中，
If men don’t have to be aggressive in order to be accepted, women won’t feel compelled to be submissive.
The WeChat emoji keyboard. Besides the hundred-or-so official emojis that WeChat offers, it also allows users to exchange and collect stickers and gifs.
sticker [’stikə]
n. 贴纸。 这里指自定义表情包，gif动图

The difference between emojis on Chinese and Western apps can shed light on some interesting cultural disparities. I have noticed that Chinese messaging apps tend to have a lot more emojis for expressing deference and embarrassment (with elements like blushing)-traditional Chinese culture prizes humility and indirectness. You can never ask someone a favor without profusely expressing how bad you feel; you can never ask for someone’s time without showing that you think you are hardly worthy of their time.

shed light on
阐明；使…被宠妃理解
Below are some emojis that I use most frequently while communicating on WeChat, but do not really have equivalents on Western messengers like Facebook Messenger and iMessage.

1.
Official Name: Shy
Actual Meaning:
- I’m better than you, but I want you to know that I’m not just better but also humble
- I have a favor to ask of you but I don’t want to appear blunt
Function:
- Humble brag
- Downplay one’s achievements
- Ask for a favor
Example:

downplay [’daunplei]
vt. 轻描淡写
favor [’feivə]
n. 帮忙，小帮助。
常用，do a favor, ask for a favor

2.
Official Name: Smile
Actual Meaning:
- I don’t know you that well and I don’t want to come across as over-friendly, but I want to create a friendly atmosphere
- I’m asking you a favor and it would be inappropriate for me to use any of the other favor emojis because they are way too cute and you are more senior/older than me
Function:
- To maintain a professional yet friendly relationship
- To tell someone something very serious without coming across as mean
**Note: DO NOT use this with friends (unless you are over 40), otherwise your friend will think you are trying to end the friendship by treating them like a stranger. **
For friends, use or instead.
Example:

come across
偶遇

4.
Official Name: Trick
Actual Meaning:
- Look at you!!!
- I have an idea that I think we’ll both like
Function:
- Tease someone
- Emphasize the novelty of your idea
Example 1:

Example 2:

tease [ti:z]
vt. 取笑，戏弄，挑逗

5.
Official Name: Fight
Actual Meaning:
- I respect you a lot and I’m ready to learn from you
- Sorry for troubling you
- Thank you so much
** Note: This is a salute commonly used in Chinese Kung Fu before people fight each other. It is a mutual show of respect for each other’s skills and abilities.*
Function:
- For greeting when you first meet someone who is more senior or older
- When you are asking a favor of someone that you respect
Example:

7.
Official Name: Scowl
Actual Meaning:
- What the hell?!
- Are you serious? I can’t believe this happened.
Function:
Express surprised disappointment/outrage
Example:

scowl [skaul]
vt. 怒视，

8.
Official Name: Grimace
Actual Meaning:
- I’d love to help you but I really can’t
- I can’t believe things turned out this way, but here’s what happened
- This is really awkward
Function:
- Breaking bad news
- Asking for a difficult favor
- Express embarrassment or regret
Example:

grim [ɡrim]
adj. 令人不适的，忧伤的

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