What's Up With The Sideways Smiley Faces?
I'm not sure when this trend began, but now it seems like everyone and their grandmother is all into combining the colon parentheses symbol into the :). Previous to this blog, I've relented. But as evidenced by my love of the multiple exclamation point (!!!) and even the occasional shocked question (!?!), I am certainly no grammar purist. And I did get a message from someone in which the :) was genuinely helpful. It was before I knew its meaning, and my first reaction was that the person was being kind of an asshole. But after decoding the :) I realized they were joking. Maybe we need more symbols like this to make e-mail conversations less prone to misunderstandings.
Or maybe not. I guess they are one step better than those actual yellow smiley faces that were in vogue pretty recently, but aren't they just as overly cutesy in the end? They also remind me a bit too much of the middle school jk. Yeah, I just can't do it. I'm going on record as being anti-:). Or a :( if you will.
Or maybe not. I guess they are one step better than those actual yellow smiley faces that were in vogue pretty recently, but aren't they just as overly cutesy in the end? They also remind me a bit too much of the middle school jk. Yeah, I just can't do it. I'm going on record as being anti-:). Or a :( if you will.
Labels: Technology
posted by chuckdaddy2000 at 4:47 pm
7 Comments:
The trend basically began on September 19, 1982.
Here's more detail than you want:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emoticon
M5M
Wow, I am way behind the times. BTW, wento to your link and discovered a new emoticon I plan to use constantly. The kids call it the goldfish: <°)))><
The very first Emails I remember being forwarded from person to person to person -- or from "user" to "user" to "user" as we said back in 1987 -- were long, elaborate lists of "emoticons" and what they were supposed to represent about the sending user. The last one was often something like "+-<{:-)= User is the Pope."
M5M
ROTFLMAA!!! Chuckdaddy, it's quite evident you do not work in an email intense corporate atmosphere... I'm quite sarcastic and it's been taken the WRONG way many times in email. The smiley emoticon adds the right context and can often soften a harsh message. "You are a dick :-)". Didn't that smiley face make you feel better?
That being said, I do agree that emoticons are way overused. I have a client who is a triple smiley face offender. That's just not necessary.
emho's got it (!!!) sarcasm attempts have bit me in the ass more than once in emails and thus began the :) to soften gentle blows and sarcasm.
They are professionally indispensable for my job, like exclamation points. Although I don't use them as much as Mrs. ChuckDaddy did before we traded jobs!! : )
Someone once told me that if you have to use an emoticon to convey your meaning then you are not being clear in your writing.
I took it on as a personal challenge and have since scaled way back on the emoticon use.
Then again, somedays I just don't have the energy. :-)
Post a Comment
<< Home