Humans have been using animals as symbols for centuries, from cave paintings to the Chinese zodiac, where each year is represented by a different animal.

　　几个世纪以来，人类一直用动物作为象征，从洞穴洞穴壁画到中国的十二生肖，每年都有不同的动物来代表。

　　Today, with the explosion of emoji onto the communication scene in the 2010s, animal-based emoji have been adopted for their symbolism, too. And, it's not just the three wise monkeys emoji, that have deeper meanings. Sometimes, a lobster isn't just a lobster ...

　　如今，随着表情符号在20世纪10年代的迅速发展，基于动物的表情符号也被用于象征。而且，不仅仅是三只聪明的猴子的表情符号，还有更深层次的含义。有时候，龙虾不仅仅是龙虾…

　　loster emoji

　　龙虾表情

　　Lobsters, besides being delicious, if distinctly un-kosher, became an official emoji in 2018. Obviously, the lobster emoji, depicting the bright red crustacean, is often used to represent lobsters and other shellfish.

　　龙虾，除了美味之外，如果明显不合适，在2018年成为官方表情符号。显然，龙虾表情符号，描绘的是鲜红的甲壳动物，经常被用来表示龙虾和其他贝类。

　　But, it has also been adopted by the transgender community, which has been lobbying the Unicode Consortium for a blue-and-pink transgender flag emoji for several years.

　　但是，它也被跨性别组织采纳了，该社区几年来一直在游说Unicode联盟，争取一个蓝色和粉色的变性人旗帜表情符号。

　　They were very disappointed when Unicode 11.0 was released in 2018 and they saw their efforts unrewarded. So, they took to the lobster emoji instead, as the lobster is a gynandromorph, "an organism that contains both male and female characteristics."

　　当Unicode 11.0在2018年发布时，他们非常失望，他们看到自己的努力没有得到回报。所以，他们转而使用龙虾的表情符号，因为龙虾是雌雄同体，“一种同时包含雄性和雌性特征的有机体。”

　　The lobster emoji is also used in romantic posts and declarations of love, thanks to a memorable scene about lobsters mating for life on the sitcom Friends.

　　由于情景喜剧《老友记》中关于龙虾终生交配的难忘场景，龙虾表情图也被用于浪漫的帖子和爱情宣言中。

　　butterfly emoji

　　蝴蝶表情

　　Because its life cycle involves a caterpillar that wraps itself in a chrysalis until it emerges as a winged creature, the insect is associated with beauty and transformation.

　　因为它的生命周期包括一条毛毛虫，毛毛虫把自己裹在蛹里，直到它变成一个有翅膀的生物，所以这种昆虫与美丽和转变联系在一起。

　　So, when the butterfly emoji, took flight in 2016, people quickly adapted it to represent change, hope, and new beginnings.

　　因此，当蝴蝶表情图在2016年起飞时，人们很快就将其改编成代表变化、希望和新的开始。

　　It is often included in posts about life getting better after a hard time or to encourage and support people who are experiencing challenges.

　　它经常出现在一些关于艰难时期后生活变得更好的帖子中，或者鼓励和支持那些正在经历挑战的人。

　　While it’s not officially associated with the LGBTQ youth empowerment It Gets Better project, people often include it in posts expressing that sentiment.

　　虽然它并没有正式与lgbtq青年授权项目联系起来，但人们通常会在表达这种情绪的帖子中加入它。

　　And, because feeling "butterflies" in your stomach is associated with the nervous excitement of new love, the butterfly emoji can also signify you have a crush or are falling in love.

　　而且，因为在你的胃里感觉到“蝴蝶”与新爱的紧张兴奋有关，蝴蝶表情符号也可以表示你已经迷恋或正在坠入爱河。

　　unicorn face emoji

　　独角兽表情

　　OK, OK, the unicorn is an imaginary animal, but we had to include it in our rundown of animal emoji symbolism, because this mythic creature, including its emoji form, can have many different meanings.

　　好吧，好吧，独角兽是一种想象中的动物，但是我们必须把它包括在我们的动物表情符号的简写中，因为这个神话中的动物，包括它的表情形式，可以有很多不同的含义。

　　In the LGBTQ community, the word unicorn is slang for a bisexual woman who sleeps with heterosexual couples. This term is referenced with the unicorn face (or unicorn) emoji, which debuted in 2015.

　　在lgbtq社区，unicorn这个词是一个双性恋女性的俚语，她和异性伴侣睡在一起。这一术语与2015年推出的独角兽脸(或独角兽)表情符号有关。

　　More generally, though, people in the LGBTQ community may use the unicorn emoji to express pride or signal identity, connecting the emoji’s often rainbow-colored horn to the rainbow flag.

　　不过，更普遍的是，lgbtq社区的人们可能会使用独角兽表情符号来表达自豪感或信号身份，将表情符号通常是彩虹色的喇叭连接到彩虹旗上。

　　These aren't the only hidden meanings of the unicorn emoji, however. Business people call a startup valued at over $1 billion a unicorn, something achieved by the likes of Uber and Airbnb. So, tech professionals may include the unicorn emoji in content about such companies.

　　然而，这些并不是独角兽表情符号唯一隐藏的含义。商界人士称一家市值超过10亿美元的初创公司为独角兽，这是uber和airbnb等公司实现的目标。因此，科技专业人士可能会将独角兽表情符号纳入此类公司的内容。