Perception of smileys

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Lunacinda 16 Oct, 2012 @ 8:34pm

We all use text smileys, right? But when you see a smiley, what associations do you couple with it - how do you percieve them?

It seems to me that people view smileys very differently and sometimes, in my case, it has actually caused misunderstandings. So how do you interpret the various smileys out there?

I'll start, but I know that there are a *ton* of different ones, some of them really creative and unusual, so I will just list some of the more common ones and the ones I tend to use myself.

:D =D -- To me this primarily signals that you find something cool or nice, usually in a funny way.

xD XD -- This is basically a rofl or lmao smiley, mostly used for overly funny or silly things.

:) =) -- The calm and composed smiley. Sort of a supportive gesture. Doesn't necessarily mean that you are expressing happiness for yourself, but rather for someone else. I sometimes use this even if I'm actually sad, but can't be arsed having people asking why.

^^ ^_^ -- This smiley is identical to the regular smiley, but has more of a happy vibe to it. It's like an enthusiastic happy smile with cute eyes.

:P =P -- The 'tongue in cheek' smiley for silly situations or when being deliberately stupid, like "I just did something dumb and I know it." (like this thread xD)

-_- -.- -- I always see the first one as sort of an awkward "Heh... dot dot dot" and the latter as a "...whatever" smiley. Like an expression that signals that you can't find the words to comment on the situation or that you are a little annoyed. Can also mean embarrased or awkward.

o.o O.o -- The "Wtf?" smiley.

:o :O -- The "Woot!" smiley. Can also substitute the "Wtf" smiley in rare cases. The size of the mouth signifies the degree of woooootness.

:| =| -- This is the "Darn..." or "Oh..." smiley. It's not so much a sad smiley but more in the spirit of "That's a shame". Sort of like the sad smiley, but more neutral.

:( =( -- The actual sad or "I'm sorry" smiley.

D: D= -- The "Oh no..." or "Damn, really?" smiley with an inconsequential edge to it - like if something unfortunate happened to you in a game that doesn't have any consequence to you in the real world. It can also have some jest and light-heartedness to it for unlucky situations that weren't very serious.

;/ =/ -- The "Darn" or "Drat" smiley.

:x -- The "...not sure what to say" smiley. Can also mean "No comment."

:s -- The wobbly-mouth smiley that signals "Sheesh..." or "Gosh..."

8) -- The cute but geeky or nerdy smile.

:* -- The kissy smiley (be careful with this one, some people take it litterally ;x)

o/ -- The salute/hello or High Five! smiley. Can also be used as a farewell.

\o/ -- The "Woohoo!" smiley, symbols both arms raised in victory, joy or cheer.

And of course the winky versions of them all:

Winky happy smileys like ;) and ;D adds a supportive element like "I'm with ya" or a suggestive or flirty sparkle.

Winky sad smileys like ;( also adds a supportive message, but more in the sense of "I'm feeling for you." or "Yeah, sucks, but not much to be done about it."

And so many more but those are the most common ones I can think of. How do ya'll feel about them there smiley faces?

Last edited by Lunacinda; 16 Oct, 2012 @ 9:29pm

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Showing 1-15 of 19 comments

Absolute Zero 16 Oct, 2012 @ 8:38pm

I think they can express an emotion that you can't show with another, since you're not face-to-face. They are in important part of the internet dialect, if there is such a thing.

Also, my friend uses @@P to roll their eyes at me. So silly.

Some other things to add as well:
:< - sad variant
:> - Happy variant
:/ - Darn/Drat variant
Plus, you forgot the winks. ;) ;D ;P

Lunacinda 16 Oct, 2012 @ 8:40pm

Originally posted by Negative_N:
I think they can express an emotion that you can't show with another, since you're not face-to-face. They are in important part of the internet dialect, if there is such a thing.

Also, my friend uses @@P to roll their eyes at me. So silly.

Some other things to add as well:
:< - sad variant
:> - Happy variant
:/ - Darn/Drat variant
Plus, you forgot the winks. ;) ;D ;P

Oh ya the :/ darn/drat variant is spot on!

And yes I forgot the winks D;

Also remembered a couple of others and added them to the original, thanks Negative ;D

Last edited by Lunacinda; 16 Oct, 2012 @ 8:47pm

Absolute Zero 16 Oct, 2012 @ 8:54pm

Originally posted by Vampyre:
Oh ya the :/ darn/drat variant is spot on!

And yes I forgot the winks D;

Also remembered a couple of others and added them to the original, thanks Negative ;D

No problem! :)
And I also thought :x was like a kiss or something.. Well, at least I know now, so thank you :D

Lunacinda 16 Oct, 2012 @ 9:00pm

Originally posted by Negative_N:
Originally posted by Vampyre:
Oh ya the :/ darn/drat variant is spot on!

And yes I forgot the winks D;

Also remembered a couple of others and added them to the original, thanks Negative ;D
No problem! :)
And I also thought :x was like a kiss or something.. Well, at least I know now, so thank you :D

I think a kiss is more like :*

There's also high five o/
And cheering \o/

Absolute Zero 16 Oct, 2012 @ 9:01pm

Originally posted by Vampyre:
I think a kiss is more like :*

There's also high five o/
And cheering \o/

You should probably add those too... :P
And I guess I need to step up expand in my emote vocabulary. :O

Last edited by Absolute Zero; 16 Oct, 2012 @ 9:04pm

76561198067054465 16 Oct, 2012 @ 9:19pm

@.@ I kind of thought these kind of look like dizzy eyes or entranced, but that is just how I see them.

Great post! :D ^.^

Cornflakes 16 Oct, 2012 @ 9:31pm

Something that's a pet peeve of mine are reversed smiles. People who write their smiles mouth first like ): for frowny face. I mean, I'll accept D: as a "jaw dropping shock" because the D shape requires it, but there's no excuse for reversing the parentheses smilies.

As for interpreting smilies, I've always read :P as "I am mocking you", even though that's not how most people use it, that's just my own reaction to seeing it. Likewise, I use :| as a kind of "blankface" or "C'mon..."

Cornflakes 16 Oct, 2012 @ 10:15pm

I have a .txt file on my desktop that is just full of different, let's call them 'non-Western' smilies and emotes. I don't spend a lot of time looking at foreign language sites, but occasionally I'll see Chinese, Taiwanese, Japanese or Korean broadcasters on Twitch.tv, when curiousity strikes I'll lurk and watch the chatroom. I've been able to accumulate a few interesting ones.

If you don't mind the spam wall of smilies, here's some familiar ones and some you might not have seen before:

Sad:
๔_๔

ಥ_ಥ

Anger:
\(ò_ó)/

Shrug:
┐(´～｀）┌

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

╮(╯▽╰)╭

┐(￣ー￣)┌

Happiness in general, hugs:
\(◕ ◡ ◕\)

<[^ᴥ^<]

づ｡◕‿◕｡)づ

⊙◡⊚

(◡‿◡✿)

㋡

Amusement:
〜(￣▽￣〜)

ლ(╹◡╹ლ)

High five:
っ( ≧▽≦)/ \(≧ω≦ )

I see what you did there:
( ≖_≖)

（￣ _ゝ￣）

♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ LOOK:
(◐_◐)-☞

Cutesy:
（´・ω・｀）

c(o｀ω´o)

(>◕ ω ◕<)

っ(´・ω・`) Nyoro~n

(」・ω・)」Uu！
(／・ω・)／Nya！

Bears:
ಠܫಠ

ʕ •ᴥ• ʔ

ᶘ ᵒᴥᵒᶅ

(ʳ ´º㉨º)ʳ

"Why would you do that?"
щ(ಥДಥщ)

щ(゜Д゜щ)

Confusion and frustration:
(。ヘ°)

(￣へ￣井)

Absolute Zero 16 Oct, 2012 @ 10:17pm

I don't see anything about flipping tables on there..

So, I'll show them!

(ﾉಥ益ಥ）ﾉ ┻━┻
┬──┬ ¯\_(ツ)
┻━┻ ︵ヽ(`Д´)ﾉ︵ ┻━┻
┻━┻ ︵ ¯\(ツ)/¯ ︵ ┻━┻
┬─┬ノ( º _ ºノ)
(ノಠ益ಠ)ノ彡┻━┻

Also, here's a website of most of those Japanese emotes.
http://www.japaneseemoticons.net/

Lunacinda 16 Oct, 2012 @ 10:19pm

Originally posted by Negative_N:
Originally posted by Vampyre:
I think a kiss is more like :*

There's also high five o/
And cheering \o/
You should probably add those too... :P
And I guess I need to step up expand in my emote vocabulary. :O

Done ;)

Originally posted by MysticRain:
@.@ I kind of thought these kind of look like dizzy eyes or entranced, but that is just how I see them.

Great post! :D ^.^

Thanks hun!

@.@ could pass for mesmerized or entranced yeah

Originally posted by Cornflakes:
I have a .txt file on my desktop that is just full of different, let's call them 'non-Western' smilies and emotes. I don't spend a lot of time looking at foreign language sites, but occasionally I'll see Chinese, Taiwanese, Japanese or Korean broadcasters on Twitch.tv, when curiousity strikes I'll lurk and watch the chatroom. I've been able to accumulate a few interesting ones.

If you don't mind the spam wall of smilies, here's some familiar ones and some you might not have seen before:

<snip>

Spiffy, keep em coming :D

#10

PentaPenta 16 Oct, 2012 @ 11:21pm

You forgot about one of the most crucial one's out there!
/) (\ - Bro hoof!

Sometimes you see it with an asterisk in the middle like so:
/) * (\
Not sure what that adds, but whateves.

(BTW I think you meant emotes, short for emoticons, not smilies, as alot of them aren't smiling.)

#11