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All About Emoticons

by Warren Riddle on May 8, 2009 at 01:11 PM

According to Yahoo, 82-percent of those who use its Instant Messenger service like to portray feelings with emoticons in their correspondences. The other 18-percent probably loathe those little winks and smiles. If you've ever been on a message board, or used instant messaging, e-mail or text messages, then you've seen the little buggers, and at some point you've probably used one yourself. This week, in its 10 Things You Didn't Know About Emoticons, Neatorama has provided a history of the symbols, also demonstrating some modern hieroglyphs you may have never seen.

The article provides fascinating early instances of emoticons, although it doesn't explain the etymology of the actual term "emoticon." Neatorama credits Carnegie Mellon University scientist Scott Fahlman with suggesting the Internet's first smiley face in 1982, but he dubbed it a "character sequence for joke markers," which doesn't exactly roll of the tongue.

The first published accounts of emoticons occurred in 1881 in the satirical newspaper 'Puck.' Sarcastically citing the need to rise up against tyrannical artists, the "letter-press department" devised "Studies in Passions and Emotions" to depict joy, melancholy, indifference and astonishment. Neatorama supplies more historical tidbits, including a debatable emoticon in the transcript of a speech given by Abraham Lincoln.

For those of you who like to get a little saucy in your online discourses, the list depicts a wide range of body part symbols (fleshicons?) that allow you to illustrate exactly what you want someone to kiss. And, for the LOLcats lovers, Neatorama even graciously provides some awwww-inducing cuteness. (^_^) [From: Neatorama]

Tags: communication, emoticons, funny, history, internet history, InternetHistory, top

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