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 |