Smilies

Smilies have developed over the years through email, bulletin boards and the internet in general, 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. Smilies are often referred to as emoticons. Books have been written on this subject, with endless listings of a multitude of emoticons. However I will only list a few that have become more or less an informal standard in internet communication.

) The "standard" smiley, tilt your head sideways to see the face. A simple smile. All of the following are also often used with a nose,  :-) Depending on the individals personal preference. Another variant is to use an = instead of : to represent eyes. Although never used in conjunction with a nose. =-) does not look very good. The font used pretty much decides what looks best.

D A wide grin

( "I'm sad/unhappy"/"I sympatize with you"

/ Somewhat unhappy/discontent

p or :P Pointing your tongue. Usually following banter, or a sligth insult, to let the person know you meant no offence, similar to the "jk - just kidding"-slang term.

o Astonished/Surprised

) Winking, a joke and a smile

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"