Emoticons are glyphs using ASCII text characters to express the emotions/spirit of the words/sentences used. In normal conversations whether face-to-face or over the telephone, we could discern the emotion of the other party by the tone of their voice. This is impossible over a written medium like the e-mail. Thus, emoticons were invented to convey these feelings.
Example:
Go break a leg. :-)
Wish I could make it. :-(
:-| | Ambivalent |
o:-) | Angelic |
>:-( | Angry |
|-I | Asleep |
(::()::) | Bandaide |
:-{} | Blowing a Kiss |
\-o | Bored |
:-c | Bummed Out |
|C| | Can of Coke |
|P| | Can of Pepsi |
:( ) | Can't Stop Talking |
:*) | Clowning |
:' | Crying |
:'-) | Crying with Joy |
:'-( | Crying Sadly |
:-9 | Delicious, Yummy |
:-> | Devilish |
;-> | Devilish Wink |
:P | Disgusted (sticking out tongue) |
:*) | Drunk |
:-6 | Exhausted, Wiped Out |
:( | Frown |
\~/ | Full Glass |
\_/ | Glass (drink) |
^5 | High Five |
(((((name)))) | Hug (cyber hug) |
(( )):** | Hugs and Kisses |
:-I | Indifferent |
:-# | Lips are Sealed |
:~/ | Mixed Up |
:-O | Mouth Open (Surprised) |
(_) | Mug (coffee, beer) |
@[_]~~ | Mug of HOT Coffee or Tea |
**** | Popcorn |
&&&& | Pretzels |
@--)--)(-- | Rose |
:-@ | Screaming |
:O | Shocked |
:) | Smile |
^ | Thumbs Up |
:-& | Tongue Tied |
:-\ | Undecided |
;) | Wink |
|-O | Yawning |
c[T] | cup of tea |
c[C] | cup of coffee |
Abreviations/acronyms
AFAIK | As Far As I Know |
AFK | Away From Keyboard |
ASAP | As Soon As Possible |
BAS | Big A** Smile |
BBL | Be Back Later |
BBN | Bye Bye Now |
BBS | Be Back Soon |
BEG | Big Evil Grin |
BF | Boyfriend |
BIBO | Beer In, Beer Out |
BRB | Be Right Back |
BTW | By The Way |
BWL | Bursting With Laughter |
C&G | Chuckle and Grin |
CICO | Coffee In, Coffee Out |
CID | Crying In Disgrace |
CNP... | Continued (in my) Next Post |
CP | Chat Post(a chat message) |
CRBT | Crying Real Big Tears |
CSG | Chuckle Snicker Grin |
CYA | See You (Seeya) |
CYAL8R | See You Later (Seeyalata) |
DLTBBB | Don't Let The Bed Bugs Bite |
EG | Evil Grin |
EMSG | Email Message |
FC | Fingers Crossed |
FTBOMH | From The Bottom Of My Heart |
FYI | For Your Information |
FWIW | For What It's Worth |
GAL | Get A Life |
GF | Girlfriend |
GFN | Gone For Now |
GMBA | Giggling My Butt Off |
GMTA | Great Minds Think Alike |
GTSY | Glad To See You |
H&K | Hug and Kiss |
HABU | Have A Better 'Un |
HAGN | Have A Good Night |
HAGU | Have A Good 'Un |
HHIS | Hanging Head in Shame |
HUB | Head Up Butt |
IAE | In Any Event |
IC | I See |
IGP | I Gotta Pee |
IMNSHO | In My Not So Humble Opinion |
IMO | In My Opinion |
IMCO | In My Considered Opinion |
IMHO | In My Humble Opinion |
IOW | In Other Words |
IRL | In Real Life |
IWALU | I Will Always Love You |
JMO | Just My Opinion |
JTLYK | Just To Let You Know |
KIT | Keep In Touch |
KOC | Kiss On Cheek |
KOL | Kiss On Lips |
L8R | Later |
L8R G8R | Later 'Gater |
LHM | Lord Help Me |
LHO | Laughing Head Off |
LHU | Lord Help Us |
LMAO | Laughing My A$$ Off |
LMSO | Laughing My Socks Off |
LOL | Laugh Out Loud |
LSHMBB | Laughing So Hard My Belly is Bouncing |
LSHMBH | Laughing So Hard My Belly Hurts |
LSHTTARDML | Laughing So The Tears Are Running Down My Leg |
LTNS | Long Time No See |
LTS | Laughing To Self |
LUWAMH | Love You With All My Heart |
LY | Love Ya |
MTF | More To Follow |
NRN | No Reply Necessary |
NADT | Not A Darn Thing |
OIC | Oh, I See |
OL | Old Lady (significant other) |
OM | Old Man (significant other) |
OTOH | On The Other Hand |
OTTOMH | Off The Top of My Head |
PDS | Please Don't Shoot |
PITA | Pain In The A$$ |
PM | Private Message |
PMFJI | Pardon Me For Jumping In |
PMP | Peed My Pants |
POAHF | Put On A Happy Face |
QSL | Reply |
QSO | Conversation |
QT | Cutie |
ROFL | Rolling On Floor Laughing |
ROFLAPMP | ROFL And Peeing My Pants |
ROFLMAO | ROFL My A** Off |
ROFLMAOAY | ROFLMAO At You |
ROFLMAOWTIME | ROFLMAO With Tears In My Eyes |
ROFLUTS | ROFL Unable to Speak |
RTFM | Read The F****** Manual! |
SETE | Smiling Ear To Ear |
SHID | Slaps Head In Disgust |
SNERT | Snot-Nosed Egotistical Rude Teenager |
SO | Significant Other |
SOT | Short Of Time |
SOTMG | Short Of Time Must Go |
SWAK | Sealed With A Kiss |
SWAS | Scientific Wild A** Guess |
SWL | Screaming with Laughter |
SYS | See You Soon |
TA | Thanks Again |
TCOY | Take Care Of Yourself |
TILII | Tell It Like It Is |
TNT | Till Next Time |
TOY | Thinking Of You |
TTFN | Ta Ta For Now |
TTYL | Talk To You Later |
WAS | Wild A** Guess |
WB | Welcome Back |
WTH | What/Who The Heck (or H**, or sub an 'F' for the 'H') |
YBS | You'll Be Sorry |
YG | Young Gentleman |
YL | Young Lady |
YM | Young Man |