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Smiley's, Acronyms, and Abbreviations

by Ruben Flores    

SMILEY'S

Since you usually cannot see the person with whom you are communicating with, you usually cannot be sure if they are joking or serious when you read a particular comment. (Well you can, but that would require additional equipment and software on both ends.) This is where smiley's come in. Smiley's (also called "emoticons" - a cross between emotions and icons) can be used to add emotion to an otherwise plan text message. Here are some of the many variations of smiley. (To view, tilt your head sideways to the left)

:-) or :)          The classic Smiley
;-)                 Winking
:-( or :(         Sad
:-o                Shock or Surprise
:-O              Yelling or Shouting
:-)~               Drooling
:-?                Speechless
:-\                 Mad
:'(                 Crying
:->                Devilish Smile
:-/ or <g>     Grinning :-D Laughing
:-[                 Bummer
:-x                Keep Your Mouth Shut
:-X              Keep Your Big Mouth Shut
                   Invisible Smiley

Be creative and you can come up with your own smiley's using your keyboard. Here are a few of my personal creations, although I'm sure they have probably existed elsewhere before.

:^)                Happy Profile
;^)                Happy Profile Wink
8-{              Goggles & Mustache
:-{~             Lowrider
<:o)             Clown
@:-)            Genie
@)-',-->--',-->-- Cyber Roses

         __\/__
          \@@/
_000o_(O)_o000_____________
________________
Peek-a-boo!

ACRONYMS & ABBREVIATIONS

Acronyms and abbreviation are used to shorten a phrase to two or more letters to save time and space when writing a message.

For example, typing: "btw, imho"

is a lot shorter than typing: "by the way, in my humble opinion"

There are many, many different combinations of acronyms or abbreviations. You may have come across some that you didn't quite understand what they meant. Well, here is a list of the most commonly used acronyms & abbreviations on the Net.

Keep in mind that it is considered bad netiquette to type ALL IN CAPS, but it is o.k. to use ALL CAPS when using acronyms & abbreviations. All caps represent SHOUTING and can be rude when used in a regular message.