Colon Closing Parenthesis:

:) 

You’ve all seen that before, a countless number of times—so much so that when I type those two characters using Microsoft Word, sure enough, a small smiley face appears rather than a colon and a closing parenthesis. And, of course, you have seen innumerable variations on this phenomenon, such as:
Winking Smiley— ;)
Freaked-out Smiley— =O
Angry Smiley— >:0
Tongue-sticking-out Smiley— :P
Smiley-with-an-X-for-a-mouth— :X

Honestly, I have no idea what that last one is supposed to signify, but I’ve certainly seen it used. Let me first say that I am not against the smiley faces. I simply do not use them—not in blogging, not in e-mails, and not even all that often when using AOL Instant Messenger. There are certain aspects of this trend, though, that absolutely boggle the mind. For instance, who in the first place would have thought, “Hey, if I tilt my head ninety degrees to the left, a colon and a closing parenthesis resemble a smiling face”? In addition, I also have a profound issue with the lingo accompanying these text-based faces, which I have already referenced earlier, in case you hadn’t noticed. Doesn’t anyone realize how ridiculous it is to say “Angry Smiley”? But there’s really no alternative to referring to it as just that, because all these character-comprised faces, regardless of the emotions they represent, are generalized as “smileys.”

And, of course there is the new growing phenomenon that has spawned from these faces—the frequently encountered online advertisements hoping to push ridiculously complex animated “smileys,” including a devil face, a face with guitar-playing arms growing out of it, or perhaps a Superman face. If you haven’t seen the ads I am referring to, go to dictionary.com. In doing so, you have about a one in five chance of getting a glance at the “next generation of smileys.”

In summation, you may feel free to continue using any sort of faces recreated through text and the like, as long as you don’t abuse them. I enjoy using the vertical ones myself.

^_^

End Post.

Comments

[Tvindy]

☺☺☺☺☺☺☺☺☺☺

They're also sometimes referred to as emoticons.

[--Sunrise--]

LOL! (Came here via a Google search..)

Or, ehm, should I just say: :D ?

I don't have a clue what :X is for, either.. :|

:D