Emoticons, East And West

Above: Emoticons from Puck magazine, from way back in 1881 — yes, the 19th Century! :o

Emoticons are a way of using letters, numbers, and punctuation to show your mood or expression. Otherwise, with email and texting, it can be difficult to tell just by words alone. I found these in this month’s issue of National Geographic. The emoticons used in Asia are cuter and more visually rich (get a load of “blushing”), but ours are quicker to type. Which do you use?

Emotion	East	West
Happy	(^_^)	:-)
Sad	(;_;)	:-(
Surprised	(*O*)	:O
Winking	(^_~)	;-)
Laughing	(^O^)	:D
Blushing	(#^.^#)
Embarrassed	(^^;)
Apologizing	m(_ _)m

Here are more Western emoticons and Eastern emoticons. They’s great fun to read through.