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A short string of ascii characters used to add
an expression of emotion to an e-mail or other online message.
Most emoticons are designed to represent a simplified facial expression such
as a smile (hence the alternative name "smiley") or a frown. So :-) is used
to signify amusement either at someone else's wit or, at least as often, the
author's own. Invented by Scott Fahlman and others at Carnegie Mellon
University in 1982, the smiley has mutated into dozens of forms signifying
everything from anger to flirtation. Although popular among users of chat
rooms and instant messaging software, emoticons are still regarded
somewhat snootily by the net's self-appointed intelligentsia, for whom they
symbolise the death of irony and clarity of expression. :-( |
