What Are Emoticons?

A smiley emoticon displays that a person is happy or jovial.

People use visual aids and symbols in everyday communication. These symbols help communicate emotion or mood. These symbols are used effectively in written informal communication with friends and family. Emoticons are used primarily in electronic communication to replace the need to say that you are happy, sad, confused, angry or any other basic emotion.

Definition

An emoticon is a type of facial expression used in written communication online, in text messages and in instant messaging clients. The facial expression is represented by a combo of letters, punctuation and symbols. In certain applications, the text-based emoticon might be replaced with a corresponding image that visually represents the emotion. In addition to emotions, emoticons can represent items such as music, coffee or dancing. The emoticions, depending on the application, will either be still images or a simple moving emoticon.

Eyes

For facial based emoticons, the eyes are commonly represented by the colon symbol (:) or the equal symbol (=). Sometimes the face will feature a semi colon symbol (;) or a star symbol (*) to indicate a winking emoticon. The greater-than symbol (>) is also used in front of the eyes to give the appearance of angry eyes. An uppercase B is also used in place of the eyes to give the appearance of shades. The letter X also replaces eyes to signify sickness or death.

Nose and Mouth

The facial emoticon can also include a nose, although the emoticon will be recognized without it. The hyphen symbol (-) or the caret symbol (^) is commonly used as the nose. The ")" symbol is used to show a smiling emoticon. Likewise, the "(" symbol is used to show a frowning emoticon. The uppercase D letter is used to show a large smile. A slash / stroke symbol (/) is used to display a skeptical or uneasy face.

Emoticon Examples

The common smiley face can look like this: :), :-), =), or :^). Likewise, a sad or angry face can look like: :(, :^(, >:(, or >=(. To make your emoticon cry, add a apostrophe symbol underneath the eyes to make it look like this: :'(. A smiley face with shades can look like: B), or B-D. An angel emoticon will look like this: O:), O=), or O:^). The complex Abraham Lincoln symbol looks like this: =]:-)=

References

• Computer Knowledge: What Are Emoticons?
• Computer User: Emoticons