symbol interpretation

[tezz7628]

being fairly new to forum life im not entirely sure how to interpret the face symbols that i see on here, some are more obvious than others

basically i would appreciate, at your leisure giving me a few pointers

[8D] [:I] [] [}] [)] [B)] [8] [8)] [:0] [xx(] [|)] [:X] [^] [V] [?] [msnsmile] [msnsmile2] [msnwink] [msntongue] [msnsad] [msnscared] [msncool] [msncry] [msnoo] [msneek] [msnembarrased] [msnmad]

thanks very much, in advance

[Calamity Jane]

Tezz

If you point your mouse/curser over each symbol and leave it there for a second or two, it will come up as what each face is for , ie smile, big smile [8D] cool [:I] blush etc etc.

[tezz7628]

i've got that bit thanks

i'm meaning your reasons for putting them there if you know what i mean?

but i have noticed you can only do that when you're writing the text as opposed to reading it

i'm not expecting instant answers on this one, more like---- when you're writing messages to each other, and your trying to get your point across what symbols have you used and why?

obviously you can't post the contents of the topic here, so i dont know how it will work in practice

its going to have to develop over time i think

[tezz7628]

quote
"i've got that bit thanks"

this is the first example

without the smiley face i think i would have come across as a bit of a know all so i added it because i'm obviously not

there we go again ad infenitum

[Calamity Jane]

I think they are pretty much self explanatory, if you want to add a at the end of a post that you think may ( hopefully not) offend someone, it lessens the "cutting tone" you may have used.

If you are not happy about a situation you would add or

I went to bed at around 1.30 am this morning and was upagain at 6.00am so I am feeling a little [xx(] on my feet but being the [8D] person that I am I will just get on with things.

You can put whatever you like at the end of your post or in the middle, its whats relevant to you.

[Daniel Snell]

Tezz I dont know mate[msntongue]I think at the age of 32[msncry] that I am a bit old for these facesMust be the child in me[msnsmile2]

[Snapper]

If you want the history of them tezz, the 'smilies' stem from the very early days of the internet; those dark ages before colour screens (hmmmm - sometimes even before screens[msneek]) when the only folks using the 'internet' (called the Arpanet in those days) were pretty much military folks and students. This was before the days of the web when the internet was basically email or newsgroups.

Humour seldom translates well when written down, especially 'dry' or 'sarcastic' humour; so it became the norm to add a 'smiley' to the end of a sentence that was meant to be funny, a smiley being typed as :-) or (:-) (you have to look sideways). There were only a few smileys you would see regularly:
:-) (happy, laughing)
(winking, sarcastic, double meaning)
:-( (sad, unhappy)
>:-/ (mad, angry)

The other things you might see are the short abbreviations, which also have their roots back in the depths of time:
LOL (laughs out loud - something has amused you)
ROFL (rolls on floor laughing - very very funny)
BTW (by the way)
IMO (in my opinion)

It's interesting that this generation of kids believe that they invented much of this for mobile phone texting. They would be quite shocked to know it dates back to the 70s or 60s. [msnwink]

[janice]

I thought Forest Gump invented the smiley face[msnwink]

[ctgirlscout]

We use the icons to show emotion--if I'm embarrassed [:I], or shocked [:0], or kidding , or bewildered [msneek]. I like [msnscared] when I just can't follow something, I'm totally lost. I don't think age has anything to do with it--some of us are much older than 32 [xx(], but we still have fun playing with these things! [}]

[SunLover]

Teresa is right.

Anything that helps convince me I'm still a kid is great in my book