Firm seeks emoji ninja
Language, as translators are well aware, is an evolving thing -- and according to one London-based translation firm, emoji isn’t just a fun symbol system but a language to decode.
So fervent is their belief that Today Translations are offering an unusual job vacancy.
The firm is hiring the world’s first ‘‘emoji translator’’.
The successful candidate will report on ’’emoji trends, developments, usage and areas of confusion and cultural differences,’’ according to the job listing.
The listing has attracted more than 100 applicants.
Jurga Zilinskiene, CEO and founder of Today Translations, told CNN that ’’it’s a complex area’’.
She cited cultural differences in emoji understanding as a driving factor behind the firm’s decision.
For example, while the cry-laughing emoji - incidentally, Oxford Dictionaries word of the year for 2015 - signifies giddy joy to Westerners, in the Middle East it’s a different story.
They see that emoji as a depiction of grief and despair, she said.
Similarly, in Japan teachers use the white flower emoji to indicate a student has done good work - something that would definitely be lost in translation.
In New Zealand, the newly launched ‘‘emotiki’’ offers a uniquely Kiwi set of emoji - something the successful applicant would do well to keep abreast of.
If you think you have the goods, the firm even offers an online test with which you can appraise your knowledge.
Zilinskiene said an emoji specialist may receive different pay to regular translators, based on the fact that a single emoji doesn’t necessarily translate into a single word.
The position will be freelance.