Poll: Have you had to deal with emoji in your translations?
Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
ProZ.com Staff
ProZ.com Staff
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Sep 4, 2018

This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "Have you had to deal with emoji in your translations?".

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Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida  Identity Verified
Portugal
Local time: 06:03
Member (2007)
English to Portuguese
+ ...
No Sep 4, 2018

There is no place for emoji in the type of documents I usually translate.

Angus Stewart
Yetta Jensen Bogarde
 
Luiz Barucke
Luiz Barucke  Identity Verified
Brazil
Local time: 03:03
Spanish to Portuguese
+ ...
Yes Sep 5, 2018

In a marketing campaign... And I had to adapt it

 
Mario Freitas
Mario Freitas  Identity Verified
Brazil
Local time: 03:03
Member (2014)
English to Portuguese
+ ...
Deal with? Sep 5, 2018

I've had a few jobs with games and apps with many emojis. But "dealing with them" is a bit funny. All you have to do is copy and paste and go on.

sarandor
Veronika Malíková
Nikki Scott-Despaigne
Ester Vidal
 
Arabic & More
Arabic & More  Identity Verified
Jordan
Arabic to English
+ ...
Yes Sep 5, 2018

When translating text messages.

Ziad Abdulkadir
 
Amir Arzani
Amir Arzani
Iran
Local time: 09:33
English to Persian (Farsi)
+ ...
Yes, Sep 5, 2018

But only once in the last 4 years. It a was the translation of several Amazon reviews and they had some emojis in them. However, in terms of marketing, I consider their use to be very cringey almost as much as someone who says "nice to e-meet you".

 
Debora d'Amato (X)
Debora d'Amato (X)  Identity Verified
Italy
Local time: 07:03
English to Italian
+ ...
Seldom Sep 5, 2018

Only in translating text messages, meaning really seldom.

 
Nikki Scott-Despaigne
Nikki Scott-Despaigne  Identity Verified
Local time: 07:03
French to English
Not yet but it'd not be a problem Sep 5, 2018

If it were to happen, then I don't see that it is a problem. Emoji = emoji. I thought the whole idea behind emoji is that they are based on universal emotions, understandable by all, easy to respect the register of the original.

Vera Schoen
Yetta Jensen Bogarde
Ester Vidal
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida
 
Hege Jakobsen Lepri
Hege Jakobsen Lepri  Identity Verified
Norway
Local time: 07:03
Member (2002)
English to Norwegian
+ ...
No Sep 5, 2018

But I've had to deal with certain PMs (project managers, not prime ministers) using them constantly. And what I've learnt is that the the interpretation of emojis isn't as unequivocal as the sender seemed to think.
What they mean isn't always c
... See more
But I've had to deal with certain PMs (project managers, not prime ministers) using them constantly. And what I've learnt is that the the interpretation of emojis isn't as unequivocal as the sender seemed to think.
What they mean isn't always clear-cut:
https://www.wsj.com/articles/lawyers-faced-with-emojis-and-emoticons-are-all-1517243950

And from I remember way back when I translated texting acronyms (LOL, WTF) they tend to take on a slightly different usage/meaning when used in a different language.

[Edited at 2018-09-05 16:51 GMT]
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Amir Arzani
 
Kay Denney
Kay Denney  Identity Verified
France
Local time: 07:03
French to English
Not necessarily Sep 6, 2018

Nikki Scott-Despaigne wrote:

If it were to happen, then I don't see that it is a problem. Emoji = emoji. I thought the whole idea behind emoji is that they are based on universal emotions, understandable by all, easy to respect the register of the original.


A thumbs-up doesn't mean the same all over the world, for example

Wikipedia says: The thumbs up signal has a generally positive connotation in English-speaking countries. However, its perceived meaning varies significantly from culture to culture.[10]

The sign has a pejorative meaning in parts of West Africa and Iran.

In Germany, France, and Hungary, the gesture can simply indicate the number one, in the right context.

The thumbs up gesture is used on the logo of Thums Up cola.

In the United States, American Sign Language users use the thumbs up wiggled modestly left and right to indicate the number ten (10).[11] When held stationary and thrust toward another person the meaning is "yourself".[12] When lifted up by the other palm, the meaning is "help".[13]


 


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Poll: Have you had to deal with emoji in your translations?






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