Emoticons and Acronyms
Author: Rob Fielding, HTML Version by Lisa Fennell [Sysop]
Revision Date: 15th April 1999Introduction
As E-mail has become a more popular form of communication, it has resulted in a less formal type of etiquette or "netiquette" being adopted. For example,
upper case messages are seen as SHOUTING!
emoticons are used to express emotion
- acronyms are used to save time and money
Emoticons
E-mail can sometimes be seen as a "faceless" communication method, a system of using emoticons (or smilies) has developed. If a sender is not careful, a light or sarcastic message can be interpreted incorrectly without a smilie to indicate humour. To read the smilie, tilt your head to the left and you will see a face made up of the symbols. Here are two examples,
Hey, it's Friday :-)Oh no! It's Monday :-(This is a list of the most commonly used emoticons. This list is not definitive. (and is rather long...)
The Unofficial Smiley Dictionary
.
:-o Wow!
:-c Real unhappy
:-| Grim
:-C Just totally unbelieving
:= | Baboon
:-B Drooling
:-v Speaking
:-, Smirk
:-V Shout
:-|| Anger
:-w Speak with forked tongue
:-) Smiling
:-r Sticking tongue out
:-( Frowning
:-* Oops!
'-) Wink
:-T Keeping a straight face
;-) Sardonic Incredulity
:-D Said with a smile
%-<I> Drunk with laughter
:-x Kiss kiss
:-" Pursing lips
:-[ Pouting
:-# My lips are sealed
:-X A big wet kiss!
:-P Tongue hanging out in anticipation
:-Y A quiet aside
8-| Eyes wide with surprise
-<> Absolutely livid!!
&-| Tearful
|-{ "Good Grief!" (Charlie Brown?)
:-} "Thish wine tashted pretty good"
8-] "wow, maaan"
8-O "Omigod!!" (done after "rm -rf *" ?)
:-, "Hmmmm "
|~( "Someone just busted my nose"
:^D "Great! I like it!"
B-D "Serves you right, dummy!!"
:-) Basic smiley, used to inflect a sarcastic or joking statement
;-) Winky smiley, user just made a flirtatious
and/or sarcastic remark:-( Frowning smiley, user did not like that last statement or is upset or depressed about something
:-I Indifferent smiley, better than a Frowning
smilie but not quite as good as a happy smiley:- 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
(-: 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
:-)-8 User is a Big girl
:-{) User has a moustache
:-{} User wears lipstick
{:-) User wears a toupee
}:-( Toupee in an updraft
:-[ User is a Vampire
:-E Bucktoothed vampire
:-F Bucktoothed vampire with one tooth missing
:-7 User just made a wry statement
:-* User just ate something sour
;-( User is crying
;-) User is so happy, s/he is crying
:-@ User is screaming
:-# User wears braces
:^) User has a broken nose
:<)> User is from an Ivy League School
:-& User is tongue tied
+-:-) User is the Pope or holds some other religious office
`:-) User shaved one of his eyebrows off this morning
,:-) Same thing other side
|-I User is asleep
|-O User is yawning/snoring
:-Q User 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)
:-P Nyahhhh!
:-S User just made an incoherent statement
:-D User is laughing (at you!)
:-X User's lips are sealed
:-C User is really bummed
:-/ User is sceptical
C=:-) User is a chef
@= User is pro-nuclear war
*<:-)> User is wearing a Santa Claus Hat
:-o Uh oh!
(8-o It's Mr Bill!
*:o) And Bozo the Clown!
3:] Pet smiley
3:[ Mean Pet smiley
d8= Your pet beaver is wearing goggles
and a hard hatE-:-) User is a Ham radio operator
:-9 User is licking his/her lips
%-6 User is braindead
[:-) User is wearing a walkman
(:I User is an egghead
<:-I>User is a dunce
K:P User is a little kid with a propeller beenie
@:-) User is wearing a turban
:-0 No Yelling! (Quiet Lab)
:-: Mutant Smiley
The invisible smiley
.-) User only has one eye
,-) Ditto but he's winking
X-( User just died
C=};*{O)Mega-Smiley, a drunk, devilish chef with toupee in an updraft, a moustache, and a double chin
Note: Most of these can be typed without noses to make midget smileys
Midget smileys
.
:] Gleep, a midget smiley who will gladly be your friend
: hmm, let me think
:D Laughter
:I Hmmm, not funny!
:( Sad
:[ Real Downer
:<> What pretences!
:{ oh boy, the headmaster!
:O Yelling
;( Crying
[] Hugs..
:* ..and Kisses
:-` smiley spitting out its chewing tobacco
:-1smiley bland face
:-!smiley spitting out chewing tobacco
:-$ smiley face with it's mouth wired shut
:-6 smiley after eating something sour
8-) smiley swimmer
:-* smiley after eating something bitter
:-& smiley which is tongue-tied
:-0 smiley orator
(:-( unsmiley frowning
=:-) smiley punk-rocker
=:-( (real punk rockers don't smile)
+-:-) smiley priest
:-o smiley singing national anthem
:-p smiley 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
g-) smiley with pince-nez glasses
:-\ undecided smiley
:-/ lefty undecided smiley
:-| "have an ordinary day" smiley
;-) winking smiley
:-<> real sad smiley
:-x "my lips are sealed" smiley
:-c bummed out smiley
:-v talking head smiley
:-? smilely smoking a pipe
0-) smiley cyclops (scuba diver?)
:-) ha ha
|-) hee hee
|-D ho ho
:- hey hey
:-( boo hoo
:-I hmm
:-O uh oh
:-P nyah nyah
|-P yuk
~~:-( net flame
X-( net suicide
:-I net startrek
3:o[ net pets
8 Infinity
:- Male
>- Female
%\v Picasso
:) smiley
:) a little devil
%-| been working all night
::-) wears glasses
}:-( bull headed
:-{) has a moustache
:-# braces
:-& tongue-tied
:-D big smile
C|:-= Charlie Chaplin
=|:-)= Abe Lincoln
:-W speak with forked tongue
:-@ "I swear"
:-X my lips are sealed
:-C really bummed out
C=:-) chef
*<:-)> Santa Claus
:-O Mr Bill
*:o) Bozo
:*) Ed McMahon
[:-) wearing a walkman
:-)) double chin
:-7 smokes a pipe
C:# football player
:-)8 man with bowtie
:-() I stubbed my toe
:-( ) You stepped on my toe
:-( ) You backed your car over my toe
&;o/ Elvis
.
Acronyms
Many acronyms have been adopted by Internet users. It helps when composing rapid responses to cut down the amount of typing. In email usage, it obviously also cuts down on the size of your message. Here are some acronyms you may often see:
AKA .. Also known as
ASAP .. As soon as possible
CSi = CompuServe Interactive
RTFM = Read the, uh, Fine Manual
PITA = Pain in the "acronym"
BTW = By the way
BFN = Bye, for now
TSR = Terminate and Stay Resident program
OTOH = On the other hand
OTTH = On the third hand
FWIW = For what it's worth
FYI = For your information
RSN = Real Soon Now
MLA = Multi Letter Acronym
WYSIWYG = What you see is what you get
PPN = Programmer Project Number
OIC = Oh, I see!
OTOH = On the other hand
IMO = In my opinion
IMHO = In my humble opinion [the speaker is never humble]
IMCO = In my considered opinion
g,d&r = grinning, ducking, and running
OOTB = Out of the box
LOL = Laugh Out loud
PMFJI = Pardon me for jumping in (to a conversation)
TIA = Thanks in advance
