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?

EmotionEastWest
Happy(^_^):-)
Sad(;_;):-(
Surprised(*O*):O
Winking(^_~);-)
Laughing(^O^):D
Blushing(#^.^#)
Embarrassed(^^;)
Apologizingm(_ _)m

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

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