Resource Please take notes of difference In meaning of emoji in different community.

Discussion in 'Translator's Corner' started by xiazixin, Jul 20, 2019.

  1. xiazixin

    xiazixin Well-Known Member

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    Recently there is a misunderstanding partly on my faults, or partly Huaji's faults.
    I'm quite surprise that many people who have some basic level of Chinese education and some with intermediate level of understanding don't know what emoji means.
    Today I'll brief on the basic meaning of the most popular ones.

    First there is the most popular Emoji, Huaji
    [​IMG] it's usage is similar to derp for my experience, so ignore those meaning e.g. funny, humor.
    it do have a bit of difference, but your fine even you don't know. As the meaning gets complicated.

    The second one is 抠鼻, Picking your nose. If you are reading this, you must have seen this one.
    this one is most popular in NovelUpdate cause it's @Wujigege 's favorites.
    it's means I'm not afraid of you, I despise you (not exactly accurate, but picking nose is a more friendly variants than other emojis like smiling).

    I'm tired now, I'll just trow in some random links and look for your self. For those who knows please Fill in the missing gaps.
    chinese people mean something very different when they send you a smiley emoji

    why is Huaji emoji so popular (chinese)

    Emoji handbook for elderly people (Chinese).

    Anyway, remember to do your homework before posting a emoji to a Chinese friends and search up if you came across a emoji your not familiar with.
     
    Last edited: Jul 20, 2019
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  2. otaku31

    otaku31 Well-Known Member

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    Very informative, thank u. So, the next time @Wujigege posts something provocative, plz respond with a smile[y]. :);)
     
    Last edited: Jul 20, 2019
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  3. dhRPGamer

    dhRPGamer Well-Known Member

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    A shame that there's no huaji equivalent blobs in NU though. It can be used to respond to so many different kinds of things. :cookie:

    ( And, instead of the coffee blob, which is a damned fine blob ( :blob_coffee: : "That would be SIR Damned Fine Blob to you, thank you very much."), it'd be awesome if there's a tea blob too. [​IMG] )
     
    Last edited: Jul 20, 2019
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  4. Wujigege

    Wujigege *Christian*SIMP*Comedian

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    Thread is so cool. I am removing OP from my ignore list.
    [​IMG]
     
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  5. Bythesea

    Bythesea Member

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    WHY did I read that entire zhihu thread psychoanalyzing an emoji. This goddamn Huaji [​IMG] is going to haunt me for the rest of my life. That was a grand-master level shitpost of the likes I've never seen before.

    Speaking of emotes my favorite is still 'Thonking' [​IMG] nobody can take him away from me.
    Actually I think this is probably to western counterpart to Huaji in terms of popularity no?
     
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  6. xiazixin

    xiazixin Well-Known Member

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    Like my previous reply to some other thread, lines with huaji at the back are never soppose to be taken sirously. And you shouldn't take it as being offensive or anything the likes. That's why, I had no idea you don't know the concept of huaji. But 亡羊补牢未为晚也, it's never too late to learn from mistakes.

    Well, I don't know about popularity.
    But huaji is literally everywhere.
     
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  7. dhRPGamer

    dhRPGamer Well-Known Member

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    In the Chinese tieba community, and everything else stemming from it.
    [​IMG]
    How do you answer to insults? Huaji.
    How do you show your appreciation? Huaji.
    How do you troll? Huaji.
    How do you display sarcasm? Huaji.
    How do you tell your favorite author (or translator) to hurry up with their next release? Huaji.
    It goes with just about everything. [​IMG]
     
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  8. xiazixin

    xiazixin Well-Known Member

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    That's how you use this Huaji, this is an good example, you shouldn't take the above answer seriously and usage as it is[​IMG]
     
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  9. dhRPGamer

    dhRPGamer Well-Known Member

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    Yes, you totally shouldn't. That's just plain absurdity. [​IMG]
     
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  10. Bythesea

    Bythesea Member

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    I just spent my Saturday morning translating the entirety of that zhihu post so the entire forum can haunted by Huaji as well for the rest of your lives.

    And also to prove to OP that n00bs with elementary school level Chinese can translate Chinese memes just fine because:
    A) Yes I never let things go and B) Yes I'm alive solely due to my high levels of spite. [​IMG] C) And also to brush up on my Chinese lmao.


    Why is "Huaji" so goddamn popular?

    Answer:
    Which emote holds the championship crown for highest usage on Tieba? Naturally, it's the unrivaled "Huaji". So, why does this lone satanic smile radiate such black magic fuckery? Is it due to mankind's twisted nature? Or the degradation of morality within society?

    Please tune in to this week's <Approaching Science> to find out.
    [Insert Huaji]

    ---

    Exhibit A: Anatomical diagram of the face.
    [Insert anatomical diagram]

    The muscles highlighted in red are the muscles we are concerned with:

    Frontalis: Contraction of the frontalis raises the eyebrows and autonomously raises the eyelids

    Orbicularis Oculi: Located around the eyes, primary function is for shutting the eyes; the occasional eye twitch is a result of this muscle's vibration

    Zygomaticus: Located on the cheeks, primary function is to pull up the corners of the mouth

    Orbicularis Oris: Wraps around the mouth, allows the lips to press together

    "Huaji" is a product of interaction between these four muscles.

    I've expounded previously in my answers to "When I get my picture taken, how can I make my smile more pleasant? How do I prevent it from looking fake?" and "Why doesn't WeChat's smile contain even a trace of amiability?"

    >If you're truly smiling from the bottom of your heart the corners of your mouth will raise, your cheeks will protrude outwards, and your lower eyelids will push upwards and form a groove underneath. If you're faking a smile, it won't touch your eyes.

    When you're smiling from the bottom of your heart, the orbicularis oculi and zygomaticus will contract accordingly. When you burst out laughing, the zygomaticus pulls upward and the orbicularis contracts accordingly: the eyes will narrow into slits, the pupils constrict, and the creases around your eyes deepen.

    If the zygomaticus curves the mouth into a crescent while the the orbicularis oris contracts until the lips purse, it will appear as if you're supressing a smile.

    So a genuine smile buffed by the orbicularis oris pursing the lips should look like this:
    [Insert Baidu "extremely happy" emote]

    According to the degree of curvature on "Huaji's" mouth his eyes should already be squeezed into fine lines, yet not only are his eyes still open, they've even evolved into concave curves. So, does this illustrate that "Huaji" is not genuinely smiling?

    Actually, not really.
    [Insert top half of Huaji]

    Let's crop into the top half of "Huaji". Observe the lower eyelids curving up into an arc, demonstrating the characteristic trait of a genuine smile. This is the result of pressure from the zygomaticus + orbicularis oris contracting.

    So why don't the lower eyelids touch the upper eyelids?

    Thorough investigation of the eyebrows shows that contraction of the frontalis is raising the eyebrows and incidentally pulling open the upper eyelids. The mouth is curving upwards so aggressively, yet the upper eyelids can still be stretched open. It's evident how hard these eyebrows are being raised.

    But for what purpose does “Huaji" raise his eyebrows?

    Many expressions employ the use of raised eyebrows, but if the eyebrows are raised in vitro without the telltale signs of secondary expressions, it signifies accentuation and admiration of one's own words. Peruse below, exhibit B: Donald J. Trump.
    [Insert orange cheeto]

    Furthermore, in our day-to-day lives people will often humorously, rapidly and repeatedly jerk their eyebrows up and down to signal appreciation of their own words. So much so that they believe present company should also approve. This body language can be translated as "Yoo kno hwat I'm sayin?”.

    Let's take intermission and summarize what we've learned so far: Within "Huaji's" expression, the zygomaticus exerting influence on the mouth produces a 'smile', raising the eyebrows signifies 'admiration of one's own words', and the contraction of the orbicularis oris when suppressing a smile reveals a trace of 'restraint'.

    Still, are there only merely these truths?

    ---

    The influence of "Huaji" is so ubiquitous that even when there is no "Huaji" available for use, people will add "manual side-eye smiley" to the end of their comments. Occasionally people may ditch the "smiley" and simplify it to "manual side-eye", as the quintessence of "Huaji" rests solely within the "side-eye".

    Let's place a "side-eye Huaji" next to a "direct-eye-contact not-Huaji" and experience for ourselves the discrepancy between the two:
    [insert Huaji and not-Huaji]

    Due to "not-Huaji" shifting his gaze into direct-eye-contact he appears to be staring you down through your screen. This behavior is clearly the beginnings of what we commonly refer to as an "internet slap-fight". On the other hand, "Huaji" here is directing his gaze off to the side, deliberately breaking eye contact (in the same category as closing or averting your eyes). This indicates a desire to end the conversation, commonly understood as "Fuck this shit I'm out". Some might say:

    >The side-eye smiley consistently indicates when someone is "out of fucks to give"

    Breaking off eye contact really is just that effective.

    At this point in time, let's take another break to enumerate all the implications behind "Huaji's" smiling face:
    The zygomaticus exerting influence on the mouth produces a 'smile'.

    The contraction of the orbicularis oris when suppressing a smile reveals a trace of 'restraint'.

    Raising the eyebrows signifies 'admiration of one's own words'

    The side-eye belongs to the avert-all-eye-contact genus and indicates a 'an unwillingness to continue the conversation and a lack of fucks to give'.


    [Insert Huaji]
    Tieba's "Huaji" is stunning and animated and is so far above WeChat's "Mediocre Smiley's" league that the league doesn't even exist anymore.

    ---

    Although an emote's fame cannot be separated from its inherent design, we must still consider the evolution of its usage by forum members. When discussing the popularity of Tieba's "Huaji" there are two questions worth considering:

    1. Why do people increasingly prefer to use emotes when chatting online?
    2. Is Tieba "Huaji's" capacity to be a multi-purpose emote merely an inherent ability?

    Truthfully, the usage of emotes in real life may be even greater than their usage than on the internet.

    When we communicate in the real world, verbal cues like language or handwriting are actually not of critical importance. According to research by psychologist Albert Mehrabian, when we process the self-expression of others, body language makes up 55% of communication, tone of voice makes up 38%, and words make up a mere 7% (take note of the bolded words). The importance of non-verbal cues in communication is obvious.

    Researchers like Walther believe that due to the lack of non-verbal cues in online interaction, parties will employ methods such as emojis and stylized language to assist the exchange of sentiments instead. Similarly, people can employ the use of emojis to emphasize the significance of their words within society.

    When we approach it from this angle, it's not so much that people prefer to use emotes when communicating online, but rather people need to use emotes to make up for a lack of non-verbal cues.

    So how did "Huaji" become a multi-purpose expression? Apart from the previously discussed insinuation of "self-admiration", “"Yoo kno hwat I'm sayin?”, and “out of fucks", it has has to do with the content of the post "Huaji" is attached to.

    According to research on the usage of emojis in e-mail by people like Derks, they believe that emotes influences how the reader interprets the message:
    [Insert emoji table]
    Same energy: "You're so awesome [:)]” / “I'm such an dummy [:/]”
    Contradicting energy: “You're so awesome [:/]” / “I'm such a dummy [:)]”


    1. When the emoji follows the tone of the message: Positive messages with a smiley face will feel more positive, and negative messages with a slanty face will feel more negative.
    2. When the emoji contradicts the tone of the message: Positive messages with a slanty face and negative messages with a smiley face will feel more ambiguous than if there was no emoji at all. Now, the non-verbal cues within the message can be easily misunderstood. At the same time, positive messages with a smiley face will be read as more positive than if there was no smiley face, and negative messages with a slanty face will feel more aggressively sarcastic. Note that if the message is written with intense emotion, emojis will not be able to effectively counterbalance the intent of the message.

    In the case of "Huaji", he is often used to counterbalance negative messages as long as the message is not excessively negative. This is the very definition of a "Negative message + Positive emote" wombo combo. Now in addition to "Huaji's" inherent connotation, the entire message will be gauged as more positive, creating a conflict-free environment.

    TLDR: When someone uses “Huaji”, they're trying to keep the peace within the forum and create a safe space for discussion.
    [Insert Huaji]
    Don't care if you believe it or not because I BELIEVE.
     
    Last edited: Jul 20, 2019
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  11. dhRPGamer

    dhRPGamer Well-Known Member

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    I am in awe, but nevertheless, nice work. @@
     
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