What's with all the emoticons!?

Smiley faces are in. Be there or be square.

Sometimes it's hard to convey sarcasm in writing. Emoticons can help with that.

Some of us have avoided them, along with LOLs and use of U for you...

But purists break down once in a while, as 'smilies' are communicators for intent, when quickly posted words can confuse.

They can be one more part of your vocabulary - to me quite circumscribed, if any of us could just draw...

You'll find that this is a world wide site and people have different language abilities. We post in english, but for many it isn't a first language. Some are teens, some are in their seventies. People of all ages can be smart or having a stupid day. The smilies are clues. Irony, for example, is not always understood. Older people tend not to use smilies, but some do once in a while for the reasons I mentioned... which are to give a tone of voice.

:wink:

right on aperson, are all , but you seem

well that's my

Hey, aperson. You need to correct a grammatical error in your profile.

Actually, it is difficult to convey a proper message that may sound sarcastic, but is really done in fun.

^^ a rare appearance by a smilie in Osso's post.



This must be marked in a2k history

Dammit, Letty! I couldn't find the "grammatical error." Am I getting senile?

Forgive me, I used one yesterday in the "Elvis vs Beatles cuteness" thread...but I quickly and swiftly punished myself for doing so, by smashing my fingers in the desk drawer several times.

I feel that I have taught myself a valuable lesson, and I assure you that it will be quite some time before I use an emoticon again....I hate typing with my nose.

But but but, those of us in that thread got fractionally more nuance out of your comment than if you hadn't. She says, slickly.

I say this as one who could probably count my emoticons posted in lowing numbers, mooooooo.

Sometimes they just fit...a picture is worth a thousand words....type of thing.


---------

Is it Maths

It's time to give it up. He says we don't rite good, and he's rite.

Andy, check out the "their" in aperson's profile.

Hey, aperson. We are all joking, dear, but we can be quite serious at times. That's when we need to use the emoticons.

:-P

Well, mooooo, I used to be on his side. I still prefer words rather than supplied yellow blobs, but have given in, since I see their use, she says, icing the cake.

Ahhh. OK, Letty, I getcha now. However -- ahem -- the use of 'their' as a gender-neutral singular pronoun has become somewhat commonplace of late. It's a way of avoiding the awkward "his/her" cpnstructon. The jury is still out on just how acceptable this practice is but -- as I said -- it's become quite commonplace.

2Packs -- it's only in this benighted country that we say 'math.' It's 'maths' in most of the rest of the English-speaking world, particularly so in the UK. And 'kilometres' is also spelled properly by British standards.

Aperson, as Letty has already said we're just pulling your leg. Or having you on. As a cod. Dig?

I know, Andy. As we have often discussed, language is dynamic.

aperson, tell us your gender and where you are from, dear.

and that's all I have to say on the matter.

:wink: