Emoticon
Emoticon is a synthetic portmanteau word based on "emotion" and "icon." An emoticon, also called a smiley, is a sequence of ASCII characters used to represent a human face and express an emotion. Emoticons that express happy or positive emotions are typically classified as smileys. Emoticons are commonly used in email messages, in bulletin boards, or in chat. The creator of the original emoticons is said to be Scott Fahlman. They have developed over the years as a replacement for facial expressions and emotions, as a way to cope with the limitations of being forced to communicate in text only, without misunderstandings due to the lack of information. Books have been written on this subject, with endless listings of a multitude of emoticons. To more easily recognise them, put your head on either your left or right shoulder, depending on whether the "top" of the emoticon is on the left or the right.
Some basic examples:
:-) or :) or =) smile (a smiley) rarely (: never =-) :-( or )-: or :( frown; used to signify either "I'm sad" or "I sympathize with you" :/ somewhat unhappy/discontent :-D or :D wide grin :-P or :p or :<thorn> a tongue sticking out; used to signify "just kidding" after a slight insult :o Astonished/Surprised ;-) or (-; or ;) wink B-) or 8-) has (sun)glasses :-o expresses surprise :-7 tongue in cheek (rare)
There are a lot of possibilities, because people are very good at creating and interpreting pictures as faces. See ASCII art.
A few people turn the smiley around, a "left handed" smiley (: This can sometimes cause miscommunication though, since some hardcore netaddicts, tend to drop the : to reprecent the eyes completly [ ) instead of :) ] so what you intendend like a smile could be interpreted as a sad face. Generally people who communicate this way alot subconciousy think: "Caption close = smile Caption open = sad face"
As more of a joke than anything—but also as a political statement—"frownies", the symbol :-(, were trademarked by Despair, Inc. in U.S. Trademark Serial No. 75502288, Registration No. 2347676. The trademark applies only to "Printed matter namely, greeting cards, posters and art prints" and has never been enforced in a court of law.
More detailed emoticons:
=8-0 fright
=8-@=(&) man who has just discovered he has a tapeworm
(the latter is credited to humorist Dave Barry)
d:^) baseball player
+-<:-) The pope *<|:o)> Santa Claus 7:^] Ronald Reagan
See also: