Instant Messaging Emoticons
Published: November 1, 2002
On This Page
Windows Messenger Emoticons
Communicating in real-time with text messages is a great way to stay in touch with friends and family. But sometimes meaning is lost or altered because you can't hear a voice or see a face to know when the person you're chatting with is joking. Use emoticons to indicate when you're feeling happy, sad, or just plain silly. They're fun!
| (Y) or (y) |
| (N) or (n) |
| (B) or (b) |
| (D) or (d) |
| (X) or (x) |
| (Z) or (z) |
| (6) |
| :-[ or :[ |
| (}) |
| ({) |
| :-) or :) |
| :-D or :d |
| :-O or :o |
| :-P or :p |
| ;-) or ;) |
| :-( or :( |
| :-S or :s |
| :-| or :| |
| :'( |
| :$ or :-$ |
| (H) or (h) |
| :-@ or :@ |
| (A) or (a) |
| (L) or (l) |
| (U) or (u) |
| (K) or (k) |
| (G) or (g) |
| (F) or (f) |
| (W) or (w) |
| (P) or (p) |
| (~) |
| (T) or (t) |
| (@) |
| (&) |
| (C) or (c) |
| (I) or (i) |
| (S) |
| (*) |
| (8) |
| (E) or (e) |
| (^) |
| (O) or (o) |
| (M) or (m) |
Instant messaging, chat, and other Internet communications formats have led to a variety of shorthand indicators and clarifiers meant to enhance the user experience.
Emotags
Emotags were first used in e-mail and newsgroups to clarify a message for the reader. Typically, emotags consist of a word or words in brackets or parentheses, such as <joke>, and appear right after or both before and after the text they refer to.
Smileys
The most common emoticons are faces and expressions composed of standard keyboard punctuation marks and symbols, and which are viewed sideways. These are known as "smileys" in reference to the first emoticons, which represented a smile, such as: :-). Smileys are indicators of the emotional "tone of voice" intended by the writer.
:-) | smile |
(-: | left-handed smile |
:o) | smile with a large nose (or clown smiley) |
:) | smile with no nose |
:-> | smirk (or wry smile) |
:-} | wry smile (or leer) |
:-t | unsmiley |
:*) | just clowning around (or inebriated) |
:-)))) | extreme happiness (or sarcastic happiness) |
:-D | very happy (or laughing) |
(-D | laughing hard |
:-) :-) :-) | loud guffaw |
:'-) | laughing and crying |
%-) | amused (and possibly confused) |
:-/ | chagrined (or skeptical) |
:-I | indifferent |
:~) | touched (or ill with a cold) |
(:-( | sad (or bald and sad) |
:-( | frown (or unhappy) |
:-c | very unhappy |
:-(((( | extremely unhappy (or sarcastic unhappiness) |
:-< | forlorn |
>:-( | annoyed |
:-[ | pouting |
(:-& or %-( | angry |
>:-< | very angry |
~ :-( | very angry (or fuming mad) |
%-( or :/) | not amused |
:-| | expressionless |
:-| or :-( | have an ordinary day |
:-e | disappointed |
:-X | lips are sealed (or not saying a word) |
:-v | talking |
:-I | hmmm |
:-8( | condescending stare |
:-O | shouting (or shocked) |
:-@ | screaming |
:,-( or :'-( | crying |
~:-o | baby |
]:-)> | devilish |
):-) | impish |
;-> | lewd |
:-x | kiss |
:-* | ready for a kiss (or just ate something sour) |
8-] | wow |
:-J | tongue-in-cheek |
:-& | tongue-tied (or biting tongue) |
:-p | no way! (or nyah nyah) |
;-) | wink |
'-) | one-eyed wink |
:-7 | wry statement (or tongue-in-cheek) |
:-| :-| | déjà vu |
?-( | sorry, I don't know what went wrong (or black eye) |
:-C | that's unbelievable! (or incredible!) |
B-D | serves you right |
:-B | drooling |
:-*) | drunk |
:-9 | licking lips |
|-p | yuck! |
:-b | sticking out tongue |
-]:-)[- | impressed |
8-I or 8-| | in suspense |
|:-| | excessively rigid |
:-] | obnoxious |
|-) | bored (or asleep) |
|-I | asleep |
I^o | snoring |
|-O | yawning |
:-" | whistling (or pursing lips) |
:-s | incoherent statement |
:-# | just said the wrong thing (or braces) |
:-! | foot in mouth |
:-() or :-D | big mouth |
(:-$ or :-(*) | ill |
(:~) or :-') | ill with a cold |
:-R | ill with the flu |
%+| or %+{ | lost a fight |
X-( | unconscious (or dead) |
<:-) | dunce |
*:o) | bozo |
@;-) | flirt |
X:-) | child |
:>) | big nose |
&:-) | curly hair (or girl smiley) |
#:-) | matted hair |
8-) | wearing glasses |
8:-) | glasses on forehead (or little girl, or hair in curlers) |
B-) | wearing horn-rimmed glasses (or sunglasses) |
B-] | wearing cool sunglasses |
O:-) | angel |
&8-| | nerd |
c:-) or (:-) | bald |
:-{ | has a moustache |
:-)} or :-)# | has a beard |
:-Q or :-I | smoker |
:-d~ | heavy smoker |
:-? | pipe smoker |
:-/I | no smoking |
:-) X | wearing a bow tie |
{(:-) | wearing a toupee |
:-{} | lipstick |
[:-) | stereo headphones |
d :-o | hats off |
~:-( | has been flamed (or is on fire) |
~~:-( | has been flamed repeatedly |
) | Chesire cat |
(:-I | egghead |
3:-o | cow |
[: |] | robot |
M-) | see no evil |
:X) | hear no evil |
:-M | speak no evil |
*8((: | strange |
O+ | female |
O-> | male |
||*( | handshake offered |
||*) | handshake accepted |
<{:-)} | message in a bottle |
(-: :-) | putting heads together |
[] or () | hug given (name or initials can be included between the brackets) |
((( ))) | lots of hugs |
((( ))):** | hugs and kisses |
(::()::) | Band-Aid (or comfort) |
@->- | a rose |
@— >— | a long-stemmed rose |
@== | atomic bomb |
<')))))- < | a fish |
^ | giggles |
Alternate (Japanese) Smileys
Alternate smileys, which do not require users to tilt their heads sideways, were developed by Internet users in Japan and are becoming more common worldwide. Some versions of these emoticons leave out the ( ) brackets around the faces.
(^_^) | male smiley |
(^.^) | female smiley |
(^L^) or (^(^) | happy |
(-_-) | secret smile |
(^o^) | laughing out loud |
(^_^;) | laughing to cover nervousness |
(^_^)/ | waving hello |
(;_;)/ | waving good-bye |
(^_~) or (^_-) | winking |
(*^o^*) or (*^.^*) | exciting |
\(^_^)/ | joyful |
(;_;) or (~~>.<~~) | crying |
(>.<) or (>_<) | angry |
(v_v) | expressionless |
(^o^;> | excuse me? |
(*^_^*) | blushing (or shy) |
(^_^;;;) | embarrassed (or in a cold sweat) |
(?_?) | confused (or wondering) |
(!_!) or (o_o) | shocked |
(*_*) | frightened (or in love) |
(=_=)~ | sleepy |
(u_u) | sleeping |
(@_@) | stunned |
'\=o-o=/' | wearing glasses |
m(_)m | humble bow of thanks or apology |
Acronyms
The first emotional indicators in newsgroups and e-mail were acronyms designed to give readers clues to the attitude and intent of the sender. Acronyms also quickly developed as keyboarding shortcuts. Use of acronyms is particularly prevalent in instant messaging, primarily to maintain the pace of real-time conversation.
AAMOF | as a matter of fact |
AAR | at any rate |
ADN | any day now |
AFAIK | as far as I know |
AFK | away from keyboard |
AFKBRB | away from keyboard, be right back |
ASAP | as soon as possible |
A/S/L | age/sex/location |
B2W | back to work |
B4N (or BFN) | bye for now |
BAK | back at keyboard |
BBL | be back later |
BBS | be back soon |
BCNU | be seeing you |
BF (or B/F) | boyfriend |
BMN | but maybe not |
BRB | be right back |
BTDT | been there, done that |
BTDTBTT | been there, done that, bought the tape |
BTDTGTTS | been there, done that, got the t-shirt |
BTDTGTTSAWIO | been there, done that, got the t-shirt, and wore it out |
BTW | by the way |
BYKT | but you knew that |
CIO | cut it out |
CMIIW | correct me if I'm wrong |
CU (or CYA) | see you |
CUL (or CUL8R) | see you later |
DIY | do it yourself |
DYJHIW | don't you just hate it when |
EAK | eating at keyboard |
EOL | end of lecture |
EOM | end of message |
F2F (or FTF) | face to face |
FAPP | for all practical purposes |
FOFL (or FOTFL) | falling on the floor laughing |
FTR | for the record |
FWIW | for what it's worth |
FYA | for your amusement |
FYEO | for your eyes only |
FYI | for your information |
g (or <g>) | grin |
G (or <G>) | big grin |
G2G (or GTG) | got to go |
GAL | get a life |
GD&H | grinning, ducking, and hiding |
GD&R | grinning, ducking, and running |
GD&RVVF | grinning, ducking, and running, very, very fast |
GF (or G/F) | girlfriend |
GG | gotta go (or good game) |
GIWIST | gee, I wish I said that |
GMTA | great minds think alike |
GoAT | go away, troll |
HAK | hugs and kisses |
HAGD | have a great day |
HAND | have a nice day |
HEH | a courtesy laugh |
HHOS | ha-ha, only serious |
HTH | hope this helps (or hope that helps) |
IAE | in any event |
HW | homework (or hardware) |
IANAL | I am not a lawyer |
IC | I see |
ICBW | I could be wrong (or it could be worse) |
IDTS | I don't think so |
IINM | if I'm not mistaken |
IIRC | if I recall correctly |
IIUC | if I understand correctly |
IMCO | in my considered opinion |
IME | in my experience |
IMHO | in my humble opinion |
IMNSHO | in my not-so-humble opinion |
IMO | in my opinion |
IOW | in other words |
IRL | in real life |
ISTM | it seems to me |
ISWYM | I see what you mean |
ITRW | in the real world |
J (or <J>) | joking |
JC | just chillin' |
JIC | just in case |
JK (or J/K) | just kidding (or that was a joke) |
JTYWTK | just thought you wanted to know |
JW | just wondering |
K | okay |
KWIM | know what I mean? |
L (or <L>) | laughing |
L8R | later |
LJBF | let's just be friends |
LOL | laughing out loud |
LTNS | long time no see |
MHBFY | my heart bleeds for you |
MHOTY | my hat's off to you |
MOTAS | member of the appropriate sex |
MOTD | message of the day |
MYOB | mind your own business |
NBD | no big deal |
NBIF | no basis in fact |
NOYB | none of your business |
NP | no problem |
NRN | no response necessary (or no reply necessary) |
OIC | oh, I see |
OM | oh my (or old man, as in husband) |
OOI | out of interest |
OOTB | out of the box |
OTL | out to lunch |
OTOH | on the other hand |
OTTH | on the third hand |
PAW | parents are watching |
PC | politically correct |
PDA | public display of affection |
PEST | please excuse slow typing |
PI (or PIC) | politically incorrect |
PKB (or P/ K/B) | pot, kettle, black (or pot calling the kettle black) |
PMBI | pardon my butting in |
PMFJI | pardon me for jumping in |
POS | parent over shoulder (or parents over shoulder) |
POV | point of view |
PPL | people |
PTB | powers that be |
R (or r) | are |
REHI | re-hello (following a short time away) (or hi again) |
RFC | request for comment |
RL | real life |
ROTFL | rolling on the floor laughing |
ROTFLOL | rolling on the floor laughing out loud |
S (or <S>) | smile |
SCNR | sorry, could not resist |
SITD | still in the dark |
SOP | standard operating procedure |
SPMD | some people may differ |
SUP | what's up? |
TBE | to be expected |
THX (or TX) | thanks |
TIA | thanks in advance |
TANJ | there ain't no justice |
TIC | tongue-in-cheek |
TPHB | the pointy-haired boss |
TPTB | the powers that be |
TTBOMK | to the best of my knowledge |
TTFN | ta-ta for now |
TTYL | talk to you later |
TVM | thanks very much |
TVMIA | thanks very much in advance |
TYVMIA | thank you very much in advance |
U | you |
UW | you're welcome |
VBG (or <VBG>) | very big grin |
WB | welcome back |
WCD | what's cookin' doc? |
WHBT | we have been trolled |
WOA | work of art |
WRT | with regard to (or with respect to) |
WTG | way to go |
WTH | what the heck? |
Y (or <Y>) | yawning |
YHBT | you have been told (or you have been trolled) |
YHBW | you have been warned |
YHGMTPOTG | you have greatly misinterpreted the purpose of this group |
YHM | you have mail |
YMMV | your mileage may vary |
YOYO | you're on your own |
YWSYLS | you win some, you lose some |
