What Is an Emoticon?
Emoticons are small faces used to convey feelings in textual situations, such as text messages and instant messages. The word "emoticon" comes from a combination of the words "emotion" and "icon." Many people customize their own emoticons within a group of friends or an Internet forum, but there are several that are universal. Some programs, such as AIM, convert text emoticons into pictures of cartoon faces.
Other People Are Reading
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Happy
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The happy face emoticon is the most widely used emoticon. It is used to add humor to text or to show that the person typing is in a good mood. It consists of a colon and an end parenthesis like this :), sometimes with a dash between like this :-).
Another popular variation on the happy emoticon is the big smile, using the letter "D" instead of a parenthesis, like this :D or :-D.
Sad
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The sad face emoticon is another widely used emoticon. It is the opposite of the happy face and is generally used to convey a sad story or to show sympathy.
It consists of a colon and a beginning parenthesis like this: :( It sometimes has a dash, like this :-(.An extension of the sad emoticon is the crying emoticon, which is created by inserting an apostrophe directly after the colon like this :'( or this :'-(.
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The Wink
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The winking emoticon is used to convey jokes. It implies sarcasm or inside jokes. It is created by combining a semicolon and an ending parenthesis like this ;). Sometimes there is a dash, like this ;-).
Tongue Sticking Out
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Another popular emoticon is the face with a tongue sticking out. This emoticon is often used to tease or joke with another person or in response to a mistake being pointed out. It is made of a colon and the letter "P" like this :P, sometimes with a dash between like this :-P.
Surprise
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Surprise can also be conveyed with an emoticon. There are several ways to express shock or surprise using emoticons. The general side-facing emoticon uses a colon and the letter "O" like this :O. Sometimes, there is a dash, like this :-O.
Another popular way to show shock is to use "O"s and an underscore like this O_O.
Love/Kiss
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Love is another emotion that can be expressed using an emoticon. Unlike other emoticons, where the dash is not always used, the kissing emoticon usually uses the dash for context. It consists of a colon, a dash and an asterisk like this :-*.
Anger
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Anger is the last of the most commonly used emoticons. It is used whenever a user is angry, usually during an argument. It can be made with several different "mouths" such as an "O" or a beginning parenthesis. The angry emoticon begins with the greater than symbol and a colon, sometimes with the dash. Examples include >:O, >:-O, >:(, and >:-(.
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