We’ve all seen them. They are everywhere; in chat rooms, instant messaging, in our emails, on blogs and websites or in forums. So what are they?
They are known as smileys or emoticons (short for “emotive icons”); another way to electronically communicate with others, quickly. In our day-to-day lives, we often rely on hand gestures, facial expressions and body language to get an accurate read on the emotion a person is trying to convey. Sometimes, our intent gets lost in the translation somewhere along the line. A smile, a frown, clenched fists; all add significance to words we choose to verbalize. However, when communicating electronically, it is often difficult to discern whether the person we are speaking with is angry, sad and happy or just being silly. That is where emoticons come in handy; they help convey that particular emotion and attitude quickly and without much effort.
Smileys are easily created by using simple keyboard combinations using various symbols, punctuation and characters such as colon’s, hyphens, brackets, to make faces. By physically turning your head sideways, it’s easy to see the emoticon. Try it yourself; by turning your head to the left, it is easy to distinguish the eyes, nose and smile.
:-)
Although the word “smiley” is often used in this type of electronic shorthand, emoticons are not always smiling nor do they always portray happy feelings:
:~(
There are many emoticons that cover a range of emotions:
Surprised :-O or :o
Tongue out :-P or :p
Wink ;-) or ;)
Sad :-( or :(
Confused :-S or :s
Disappointed :-| or :|
Crying :'(
Embarrassed :-$ or :$
Angry :-@ or :@
Don't tell anyone :-#
Very unhappy (:-(
Santa Claus *<|:o)>
Emoticons have been around for quite sometime. Although there is some debate as to when the smiley first appeared, it is believed that Kevin Mackenzie first used the -) symbol, which meant "tongue in cheek" in 1979. Smileys did not become popular until September 1982, when Scott E. Fahlman used one on an electronic bulletin board at Carnegie Mellon University. Fahlman is commonly known as the creator of the smiley. Below, is his original post:
19-Sep-82 11:44 Scott E Fahlman :-)
From: Scott E Fahlman <Fahlman at Cmu-20c>
I propose that the following character sequence for joke markers:
:-)
Read it sideways. Actually, it is probably more economical to mark
things that are NOT jokes, given current trends. For this, use
:-(
Whoever discovered or invented this electronic jargon, we greatly appreciate it!! For further information from Scott Fahlmans perspective, please visit his website.
