mental_floss magazine
SUBSCRIBE >
GIFT SUBSCRIPTIONS >
DIGITAL SUBSCRIPTIONS >
subscriber services >
A year ago, almost to the day, I wrote about e-motorcons and dropped some of the origins of their predecessors, emoticons. Earlier this week, The New York Times had a piece on emoticons, as well, explaining that far from dying out, the fad seems to be growing in popularity and worming its way into business transactions.
The most interesting part of the article was the graphic, which I’ve copied below. I mean honestly people, Elvis? John Lennon? Who has this kind of time on their hands?
Actually, I’m hoping you all do. Let’s see who can come up with the most creative, new, emoticon. I’ll start the emoto-ball rolling with [:{ a Frenchman with a waxed moustache.
I’m not entirely sure what emotion it should be linked to, but I’ll go with “Abraham Lincoln”
==|:.]
posted by Bowlegged_Lou on 8-3-2007 at 5:44 am
Homer Simpson
(_8^()
posted by Sigurd on 8-3-2007 at 6:34 am
Sigurd- I believe that should be
(~8^()
I’ll add Buster Poindexter:
@;-)
OK, so it’s an Elvis ripoff. So sue me.
posted by El Tigre on 8-3-2007 at 7:19 am
Emoticons are like exclamation points — I feel dirty when I use them (and not in the good way). But here are a few I found amusing:
*
posted by EV on 8-3-2007 at 7:25 am
*
posted by EV on 8-3-2007 at 7:28 am
Boomers supposedly use emoticons more than other age groups. An Ad Age columnist says it’s just another we irritate him.
I wrote about it.
Here are my submissions - boomer oriented
\|OO|/
* Gotta get my glasses
??
* What’s your point?
LOL*!@
* Laffing Out Loud and then hacking up a lung
LOLX
* Laffing so hard I hand to cross my legs to keep from peeing
LOLX…..
* Laffing Out Loud and peeing my pants
( | ) XXX
* Kiss my butt
~~~~~
o\o\o
o\o\o
o\o\o
|_?_|
* Lost My Remote
(.Y.) !!!
* Wife in room
DICK
* Husband in room.
posted by goinglikesixty on 8-3-2007 at 7:40 am
sorry: what’s your point didn’t post because of html restrictions. use left arrow, caret, right arrow
posted by goinglikesixty on 8-3-2007 at 7:42 am
*****:)
posted by Tim on 8-3-2007 at 7:54 am
The Christian Fish Symbol (Ichthus)
posted by Laura Fox on 8-3-2007 at 8:03 am
EV - that * is for Kurt Vonnegut, right?
posted by Jack on 8-3-2007 at 8:30 am
I also feel kind of wrong using emoticons excessively, but I gotta admit that these are really creative, given the limited symbols available. (A bit off topic: The other internet-y thing that feels completely wrong is the abhorrent misspelling of everything, or reducing it to one letter or number–e.g., u (you); r (are); ur (your/you’re); 2 (too/to); 4 (for); etc. You should do a post on where the bloody hell that horrible trend started–I’ve actually had college students of mine think it’s ok to use these abbreviated spellings in papers!)
I have invented one emoticon, though, that I rarely get to use:
:9)
which stand for ‘pig.’ Unfortunately, I don’t tend to fight with my friends online and call them pigs.
posted by Cynthia on 8-3-2007 at 9:10 am
my fave is still a simple one - the vampire >:[
I’ve seen some funny ones that look like boobs and such, but I agree -who has time to create all these? I think the simpler, the better…
so be it, Jedi…
posted by donner on 8-3-2007 at 9:45 am
@@@@:-) Marge Simpson
:-@ Maggie Simpson
~(:-(|) Homer Simpson
posted by SuperEmi on 8-3-2007 at 10:17 am
I don’t get the Elvis one…
I use the smiley :) and winking ;) all the time, but those are pretty much all I use. My mother uses them excessivly and it drives me nuts.
My biggest problem actually is one of practicality. I often find myself wanting to “smile” or “wink” within parentheses, which comes out like ((blah blah blah :)).
Gchat (on Gmail) has a neat feature where it animates emoticons, so if you type “;)” it rotates it 90 degrees to the right and it winks at you. If you type “
posted by Sara on 8-3-2007 at 10:19 am
Jack — actually the ones I typed were wiped out by some filter on the blog and just an asterisk showed. However, I’ll go with what you came up with. MUCH better. (I freaking love the drawings in Breakfast of Champions.)
I think you’ve just given me a new passive-aggressive quirk. From now on when emailing someone I think is an a-hole, I’ll just put a little * at the end of the message. Gracias!
posted by EV on 8-3-2007 at 10:29 am
Similar to Lennon:
O-O LeCorbusier (or Phillip Johnson)
posted by Gringo Wang on 8-3-2007 at 11:07 am
Hello Kitty ! ! !
=^.^=
posted by TechSupport on 8-3-2007 at 11:34 am
:F is the basic vampire for myspace iming
i like B) which is just an egghead
how about *:) if youre on vacation? (like a little flower in your hair)
_
| |
C|’ ‘|D
| \
posted by maxiebob on 8-3-2007 at 11:51 am
wow, what happened to the bottom of my post…
posted by maxiebob on 8-3-2007 at 11:52 am
these are pretty good guys! who can do a monacle in the eye?
posted by David on 8-3-2007 at 11:58 am
8~P
is the only one I’ve ever used. I prefer the “~” for nose (’cause mine is a little crooked).
posted by Daylightrambler on 8-3-2007 at 12:37 pm
I see you ;)
posted by SuperEmi on 8-3-2007 at 12:38 pm
(f’.')f — cat (or other cute animal) attacks
Folks in countries that have something other than 8 bit ASCII at their fingertips can make some amazingly elaborate emoticons.
posted by Cathy on 8-3-2007 at 1:07 pm
>.
posted by Rachel on 8-3-2007 at 1:16 pm
I like the left-handed kind. Just enough different to catch your attention. (-:
posted by Leisa on 8-3-2007 at 1:32 pm
Sara, you mentioned that gchat rotates the smileys. I just noticed that last week and have to say that something about it kind of creeps me out. I think it has something to do with the scene in the excorcist when her head starts spinning around…
but i like this one:
=)
posted by Jennings on 8-3-2007 at 1:57 pm
:3 rawr
posted by Sally on 8-3-2007 at 2:07 pm
{{{(>.
posted by Into the Abyss on 8-3-2007 at 2:08 pm
(>>)–@(**)
Aww, how mean!
posted by Karen on 8-3-2007 at 2:11 pm
Beat it chumps
posted by Laramie on 8-3-2007 at 2:11 pm
%*@:-( Hung over
:-~~~~ Drooling
3:-0 Cow
CI:-= Charlie Chaplin
*
posted by Lindsey on 8-3-2007 at 2:15 pm
Some of my faves:
ô¿ô
Ü (the super smile)
o>
posted by Brandon on 8-3-2007 at 2:23 pm
:M
aflac
posted by Trey on 8-3-2007 at 3:06 pm
~(^-^~) (~^-^)~
hula dancing marshmallow!
posted by anon on 8-3-2007 at 7:24 pm
Anything that starts with < and ends with > is liable to be interpreted as an html tag, and just might disappear, here in the comments, or on any internet field.
posted by Miss Cellania on 8-3-2007 at 7:41 pm
how bout a rose (i know it isnt an emotion but neither is Elvis)
@}~^~~^~~
posted by Joshua Tutt on 8-3-2007 at 10:28 pm
ó_ò sad person. [reversed is an angry person!]
O¯O Upside down.
And, last but not least, a guy doing the arm-wave, on one leg.
O
~|~
|\
posted by Aemi on 8-3-2007 at 10:38 pm
Super simple ones are my faves…
:O whoa
:\ hmmm
:D toothless smile
:0) cute nose
posted by Julian on 8-3-2007 at 11:11 pm
here are some of my faves:
>3:|
*’this is no laughing matter’
posted by heather on 8-4-2007 at 1:19 am
clown?
o
posted by buu on 8-5-2007 at 2:12 pm
We’re outdoorsy people and love Jeep
_____
/_____\
{OlllllO}
[ ]—[ ]
posted by priscilla on 8-7-2007 at 1:59 pm
cat
>^..^
posted by zale on 8-7-2007 at 8:50 pm
wow! cool jeep! (easily amused!)
O //O\\
| |
—
posted by mj on 8-26-2007 at 9:56 am
you sad gits why do you spend all you life inventing things people will only use on the internet and if you dont and you actually draw thse that aint no good verging on seriously geeky
posted by yousadgits on 8-30-2007 at 6:40 am
“you sad gits why do you spend all you life inventing things people will only use on the internet and if you dont and you actually draw thse that aint no good verging on seriously geeky”
so people like you who just decide to waste your time typing things that people wont even use on the internet aren’t sad then?
At least others comments will be put to SOME good… You however clearly have more important things than a life…
posted by me on 3-27-2008 at 9:27 pm
___
/ | ,[___],
1—L-o||||||o
()_) ()_)—-)_)
ultimate jeep, yea buddy
posted by rj on 6-5-2008 at 7:59 pm