Scott Fahlman was the guy who first smiled in cyberspace, according to Microsoft researcher Mike Jones. From a 1982 backup tape, Jones dug out the first message to contain the emoticon:

19-Sep-82 11:44     Scott E Fahlman     :-)
From: Scott E Fahlman <Fahlman at Cmu-20c>

I propose that the following character sequence for joke markers:

     :-)

Read it sideways. Actually, it is probably more economical to mark things that are NOT jokes, given current trends. For this, use

     :-(

The New Hacker's Dictionary defines 'emoticon' as 'An ASCII glyph used to indicate an emotional state in email or news.' It goes on to say that 'the lack of verbal and visual clues can otherwise cause what were intended to be humorous, sarcastic, ironic, or otherwise non-100%-serious comments to be badly misinterpreted.'

Fahlman probably hadn't guessed that his 'invention' for use on a bulletin board would spawn so many other emoticons and be used by Netizens all over the world to express themselves better. And when it comes to expressions, since we aren't always smiling, we now have weepies, frownies, sleepies, winkies and plenty more.

The Unofficial Smiley Dictionary is a collection of the basic as well as the unusual:

:*)	This signifies a drunkard
8:-)	A little girl (Notice the bow)
:-{}	A person with lipstick
:-[	Vampire
:-~)	When you have a leaky nose
:'-(	When you're crying
:-&	When you're tongue-tied
O :-)	Angelic, with the halo
:-9	Licking your lips
[:-)	Wearing a walkman

There are emoticons to cover everything except perhaps a double-chinned man with a pointy nose and bushy moustache… No wait! That's possible too }:^#})

Instant messengers go a step further and transform ASCII characters into bright yellow faces. Gosmiley.com presents similar emoticons, in categories like bearded, angry, angel/devil and bespectacled. Check out another list at The Smiley Face Gallery. The most convenient thing about these yellow faces is that you don't need to tilt your head sideward to see them properly.

Not content with just that, animation has added a bounce to the smiley. In addition, it can also wink, spin and smooch! This site has an amusing collection of animations that includes an emoticon being abducted by aliens.

Animated ones are very popular on message boards. Most discussion forums have a standard set of smileys that you can insert into your message. Some boards allow you to do this by typing the name of the desired emoticon immediately after a slash (/) while others have lines of code that need to be inserted. There are also a few that allow you to drag and drop.

Specialised emoticons

Whole sets of smileys have been created to suit specific groups. Celebrities and cartoon characters are among the first to be in the limelight for anything, and the emoticons haven't left them out. Don't miss the celebrity emoticons section at the bottom of this page. It features the Spice Girls, Picasso, Elvis, Fred Flintstone, Homer, Marge and Bart Simpson. Get creative and mail them your versions of Lisa and Maggie to complete the family!

This site has emoticons for food items like pizzas, hamburgers and teacups, while you can find priests, nuns, doctors, pirates, scuba divers and cowboys in this section. And if you're an animal lover, this page will brighten your day.

Earlier this morning, a friend emailed me a list of 'butticons'… But of course, that's a different story

Festive
:o-<:-{{{	Santa Claus	*<|<|<|=	Christmas Tree
>3:*>	Rudolph the red nose reindeer
Celebrities and Superheroes
>:-.)	Cindy Crawford (With mole)	=:o]	Bill Clinton
//o-o\\	John Lennon	:-)B	Dolly Parton
B-|	Batman	@(*-*)@	Princess Leia (of Star Wars)
Creatures
(:@@@@@@@@@D	Caterpillar	<*))))><	Fish
(Y)  ('.' ) (")(")	Rabbit
Miscellaneous
@}-'-,-'-,---	Rose	(-:|:-)	Siamese Twins
(::::[]::::)	Band-Aid	()~~~()	Handcuffs
%*@:-(	Hungover	:-)</////>	Wearing a tie

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