The IT Law Wiki
Register
Advertisement

Definitions[]

An emoticon (a concatenation of the words EMOTion and ICON) is a textual expression representing the face of a writer's mood or facial expression.

An emoticon is

“‘a group of keyboard characters ... that typically represents a facial expression or suggests an attitude or emotion and that is used especially in computerized communications (as e-mail).’" [1]

Overview[]

In web forums, instant messages and online games, text-based emoticons are often automatically replaced with small, corresponding images, which are also called emoticons.

Popular emoticons include:

@>-->-- - a rose for you
>:-( - angry; grimacing
:-J - being tongue-in-cheek
:-| - blank expression; no reaction; scowling
:-s - confused
:’-( - crying
:-/ - doubtful; uncommitted
:-+ - exhausted
#-) - feeling no pain
<g> - grin
:-) - happy
((hug)) - hug
:-* - kisser
:-D - laughter
:-x - lips are sealed
:-( - sad
:-@ - screaming; swearing
:-C - shocked
:-O - shocked
:-] - silly grin
:-) - smile
%-) - staring at the screen too long
:-o - surprised; shocked
:-P - tongue sticking out
:-& - tongue-tied
:-D - very happy
:-< - very sad
(:-( - very unhappy
8-| - what next?
;-) - wink
:-} - wry

See also[]


References[]

  1. United States v. Cochran, 534 F.3d 631, 632, fn. 1 (7th Cir.2008).

External resources[]

  • Karianne Skovholt, Anette Grønning & Anne Kankaanranta, "The Communicative Functions of Emoticons in Workplace E-Mails: :-)", Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication (Jan. 2014) (full-text).
Advertisement