Emoticon

Alternatively referred to as as a smiley face or smiles, an emoticon is a method of showing an emotion on the Internet and text-based communication such as e-mail, chat, and SMS. Emoticons are letters or symbols used on the keyboard to represent what you are feeling, for example, :-) when your head is turned to the left represents a smiley. The smiley face is often credited as being first suggested by Professor Scott Fahlman on a bulletin board September 19, 1982 when be made the below post.

19-Sep-82 11:44 Scott E Fahlman :-)
From: Scott E Fahlman <Fahlman at Cmu-20c>

I propose that the following character sequence for joke markers:

:-)

Read it sideways. Actually, it is probably more economical to mark things that are NOT jokes, given current trends. For this, use

:-(

Below is a listing of some of the more commonly used emoticons and a description of what they represent.

:)	Smile	(:	Smile
:-)	Smile	=)	Smile
=-)	Smile	:>	Smile
8)	Smile	!)	Wink
XD	Laughing smile	!-)	Wink
;)	Wink	8(	Sad
;-)	Wink	):	Sad
:(	Sad	=(	Sad
:-(	Sad	:P	Face with tongue out.
:-|	Indifferent	:-P	Face with tongue out.
:->	Sarcastic	q:	Face with tongue out.
>:->	Devilish	>:)	Devilish
:-o	Surprised	>=)	Devilish
:-S	Incoherent	:-$	Incoherent
:8)	Pig	:P~	Face with tongue out.
:=8)	Baboon	<:-L	Dunce
7:>)	Ronald Reagan	C=:-)	Chef
0-)	Cyclopes	P-(	Pirate
%-)	Dazed	:-X	Big wet kiss
:-*	Kiss	:-#	Lips are sealed
:-&	Tongue Tied	:-(*)	Sick
:-)X	Person with bow tie.	:---)	Pinocchio
H-)	Cross Eyed	]-)	Smile with sunglasses
V^)	Smile with sunglasses shown from one side.	BI	Frog
=:-(	Punk	:-!	Foot in mouth
:#)	Drunk Smile	$-)	Yuppie Smile
|:-)	Smile with flat top	8-)	Big eyed Smile
:-E	Vampire	:`(	Crying smile
d:-)	Smile with baseball cap	X:-)	Brain dead Smile
:-C	Really unhappy smile	8(:-)	Mickey mouse
(-0-)	Imperial Tie Fighter from "Star Wars"	m(__)m	Bow
<3	Heart (I love you).	</3	Broken Heart

Also see: Chat definitions