How to Make a Key Emoticon in a Text

Not being able to emote properly is frustrating.

Sometimes when using a cell phone, you want to make an emoticon which requires the Shift key. An emoticon is an expression conveyed through text, such as ":)" -- representing a smile. Most Western emoticons are sideways, but rightside-up emotions -- such as "O_o" -- are common in Asia. If you have an older phone without a Shift key, you may have trouble making text emoticons. In this example, make a ":D" -- an expression of laughter or intense joy. Without this technique, you might end up with ":d"-- a guy sticking his tongue up his nose. Not what you wanted at all.

Instructions

Trick Your Phone Into Making Capital Letters for Emoticons

1. Press period, as if you were ending a sentence. Your screen should look like this:

   "."

2. Press space:

   ". "

3. Press the letter which you want to be capitalized. Make it "D" in this example. Your poor, misguided phone thinks you want to start a new sentence, so it makes it a capital letter. Your screen should look like this.

   ". D"

4. Go back one space. Delete the space " " and the period "." You now have an isolated capital letter. Your screen should look like this.

   "D"

5. Add whatever you want before your hard-earned capital letter. In this example, add a ":" and the screen should look like this:

   ":D"

References

• University of Maryland: Canonical Smiley (And 1-Line Symbol) List