Smileys

Like prehistoric cave dwellers, the devotees of electronic bulletin-boards and "e-mail" have struggled to find a new way to express themselves. Wall painting would not work. Words, it seems, are not enough. Inarticulate sounds cannot be displayed on screens. To make their messages feel more like personal contact, they have hit on using the punctuation marks on an ordinaty keyboard in order to pull faces at each other. To read these signs, you have to put your head on your left shoulder.

The basic unit is:

:-)
the "smiley", a standard smiling face. In context, this can mean "I'm happy to hear from you", or other pleasantries. The smiley can also wink:
;-)
or frown:
:-(
among other things. The language can express many things about the user's appearance:
                8-)   :-{)   8:-)   :-)-8   :-Q   @:-)
These signs mean, respectively, that the user wears sunglasses, has a moustache, is a little girl, is a big girl, smokes, wears a turban.

The smiley can also indicate some subtleties of mood and response:

                     :-D   :-/   :-e   :-7   :-X
These mean that he is laughing, is sceptical, is disappointed, is wry, is keeping his lips sealed.

Many of the signs (perhaps the majority in use on America's biggest computer networks) are simply absurd fun, verging on the unintelligible:

                       :-F   *:o)   +-:-)   @=
The user is a buck-toothed vampire with one tooth missing, is a clown, holds religious office, is pro-nuclear.

The Unofficial Smilie Dictionary

:-) Your basic smilie. This smilie is used to inflect a sarcastic or joking statement since we can't hear voice inflection over Unix.
;-) Winky smilie. User just made a flirtatious and/or sarcastic remark. More of a "don't hit me for what I just said" smilie.
:-( Frowning smilie. User did not like that last statement or is upset or depressed about something.
:-I Indifferent smilie. Better than a Frowning smilie but not quite as good as a happy smilie
:-> User just made a really biting sarcastic remark. Worse than a :-).
:-> User just made a really devilish remark.
;-> Winky and devil combined. A very lewd remark was just made.

Those are the basic ones...Here are some somewhat less common ones:

(-:User is left handed
%-)User has been staring at a green screen for 15 hours straight
:*)User is drunk
[:]User is a robot
8-)User is wearing sunglasses
B:-)Sunglasses on head
::-)User wears normal glasses
B-)User wears horn-rimmed glasses
8:-)User is a little girl
:-)-8User is a Big girl
:-{)User has a mustache
:-{}User wears lipstick
{:-)User wears a toupee
}:-(Toupee in an updraft
:-[User is a Vampire
:-EBucktoothed vampire
:-FBucktoothed vampire with one tooth missing
:-7User juust made a wry statement
:-*User just ate something sour
:-)~User drools
:-~)User has a cold
:'-(User is crying
:'-)User is so happy, s/he is crying
:-@User is screaming
:-#User wears braces
:^)User has a broken nose
:v)User has a broken nose, but it's the other way
:_)User's nose is sliding off of his face
:<)User is from an Ivy League School
:-&User is tongue tied.
=:-)User is a hosehead
-:-)User is a punk rocker
-:-((real punk rockers don't smile)
:=)User has two noses
+-:-)User is the Pope or holds some other religious office
`:-)User shaved one of his eyebrows off this morning
,:-)Same thing...other side
|-IUser is asleep
|-OUser is yawning/snoring
:-QUser is a smoker
:-?User smokes a pipe
O-)Megaton Man On Patrol! (or else, user is a scuba diver)
O :-)User is an angel (at heart, at least)
:-PNyahhhh!
:-SUser just made an incoherent statement
:-DUser is laughing (at you!)
:-XUser's lips are sealed
:-CUser is really bummed
:-/User is skeptical
C=:-)User is a chef
@=User is pro-nuclear war
*<:-)User is wearing a Santa Claus Hat
:-oUh oh!
(8-oIt's Mr. Bill!
*:o)And Bozo the Clown!
3:]Pet smilie
3:[Mean Pet smilie
d8=Your pet beaver is wearing goggles and a hard hat.
E-:-)User is a Ham radio operator
:-9User is licking his/her lips
%-6User is braindead
[:-)User is wearing a walkman
(:IUser is an egghead
<:-IUser is a dunce
K:PUser is a little kid with a propeller beenie
@:-)User is wearing a turban
:-0No Yelling! (Quiet Lab)
:-:Mutant Smilie
The invisible smilie
.-)User only has one eye
,-)Ditto...but he's winking
X-(User just died
8 :-)User is a wizard
C=}>;*{))Mega-Smilie... A drunk, devilish chef with a toupee in an updraft, a mustache, and a double chin

Note: A lot of these can be typed without noses to make midget smilies.

:)Midget smilie
:]Gleep...a friendly midget smilie who will gladly be your friend
=)Variation on a theme...
:}What should we call these? (what?)
:)Happy
:>what?
:@what?
:DLaughter
:IHmmm...
:(Sad
:[Real Downer
:<what?
:{what?
:OYelling
:Cwhat?
:Qwhat?
:,(Crying
[]Hugs and
:*Kisses
|IAsleep
|^oSnoring

:-`smiley spitting out its chewing tobacco
:-1smiley bland face
:-!"
:-@smiley face screaming
:-#|smiley face with bushy mustache
:-$smiley face with it's mouth wired shut
:-%smiley banker
:-6smiley after eating something sour
:^)smiley with pointy nose (righty)
:-7smiley after a wry statement
8-)smiley swimmer
:-*smiley after eating something bitter
:-&smiley which is tongue-tied
:-0smiley orator
smiley invisible man
(:-(unsmiley frowning
(:-)smiley big-face
):-)"
):-(unsmiley big-face
)8-)scuba smiley big-face
=:-)smiley punk-rocker
=:-((real punk rockers don't smile)
+:-)smiley priest
:-qsmiley trying to touch its tongue to its nose
:-edisappointed smiley
:-tcross smiley
:-isemi-smiley
:-osmiley singing national anthem
:-psmiley sticking its tongue out (at you!)
:-[un-smiley blockhead
:-]smiley blockhead
:-{smiley variation on a theme
:-}ditto
{:-)smiley with its hair parted in the middle
}:-)above in an updraft
:-alefty smilely touching tongue to nose
:-ssmiley after a BIZARRE comment
:-dlefty smiley razzing you
g-)smiley with ponce-nez glasses
:-jleft smiling smilely
:-kbeats me, looks like something, tho.
:-ly. a. s.
:-:mutant smiley
:-\undecided smiley
:-|"have an ordinary day" smiley
;-)winking smiley
:-<real sad smiley
:->y.a.s.
:-zy.a.c.s.
:-x"my lips are sealed" smiley
:-cbummed out smiley
:-vtalking head smiley
:v)left-pointing nose smiley
:-bleft-pointing tongue smiley
:-/lefty undecided smiley
:-?smilely smoking a pipe
.-]one-eyed smilely
,-}wry and winking
0-)smiley cyclops (scuba diver?)
:-=)older smiley with mustache
:u)smiley with funny-looking left nose
:n)smiley with funny-looking right nose
:<midget unsmiley
:>midget smiley
}:^#})mega-smiley: updrafted bushy-mustached pointy nosed smiley with a double-chin

:-)ha ha
|-)hee hee
|-Dho ho
:->hey hey
:-(boo hoo
:-Ihmm
:-Ouh oh
:-Pnyah nyah
|-Pyuk

~~:-(net.flame
O |-)net.religion
8 :-Inet.unix-wizards
X-(net.suicide
E-:-Inet.ham-radio
>:-Inet.startrek
3:o[net.pets

:-}beard
:-{mustache
:-#braces
:-Xbow tie
:-Qsmoker
<:Idunce
(:Iegghead
@:Iturban
8-)glasses
B-)horn-rims
8:-)glasses on forehead
:-8(condescending stare
;-)wink
-<mad

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Among other authors: Kevin Johnson, Donald "Dice Freak" Daybell <daybell@aludra.usc.edu>

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