Scott Elliott Fahlman, a former Carnegie Mellon student is said to be the creator of the first ever 'smiley' - :-). He did this to distinguish jokes from serious posts on a college message board.
Emoticons, true to their names, make way for a simple and easy medium to convey emotions which otherwise, would be difficult to portray in black and white. For instance, a text message which is actually supposed to be funny may come across as offensive for the other person, when read incorrectly or let's say, literally. So, adding an emoticon of a smiley can keep things at a lighter level.
List of Emoticons and Their Meanings
To understand the emoticon meanings better, check out the phrases given against each one of them.
:-), :-], :]
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Smile
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Wow
:-(, :(, :-[, :[
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Sad, displeasure
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Man, that was horrible!
:-D, :D
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Laughter
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What? The monkey bit your...
:-o
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Surprise
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What? You passed the test!
:-@
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Angry
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Why you little...
:-\ , :-/
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Confused
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Now what did I do?
:|
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Indifferent
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You got a new house! So...?
:-}
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Sarcastic
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My my, aren't you the God of poor jokes!
:p
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Sticking the tongue out
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Pssrrrhhhhh....
;-), ;-}, ;-p
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Wink
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Surprise surprise!
B-)
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Wearing shades
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Man you are some bright lady!
X-P
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Knocked out unconscious or dead
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You killed me!
X-D
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Died laughing
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The donkey kicked your....
:-*, :*)
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Kiss
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This is for my buttercup...
o:-)
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Innocence
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But I only stole a dollar!
:-x
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Annoyed
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Oh you again!
:O)
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Clown
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Let's party!
:-~)
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Ailing from cold
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Sniff sniff! Sing me soft kitty!
:'(
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Weeping
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My cow died...
:-7
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Smirk
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Yeah I am happy, you good for nothing fellow...
*<|:o)
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Santa Claus
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Ho Ho Ho.... Merry Christmas!
:-9
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Salivating
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Slurp slurp...
*-*
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Dazed
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My angel, you make me fly...
:*)
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Drunk
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This is your captain speaking!
:-)(-:
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Married
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Yeah, just got transferred to hell!
<:3 )~
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Mouse
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Squeak squeak
O-\-%lt;]:
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Skateboarder
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Come, ride with me
(:|
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Tired
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Sigh, sleeping is so tiring!
:-E
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Vampire
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Grrr, I am a vampire, grrr!
|-O
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Yawn
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Yawning is more interesting than my work!
('')-.-('')
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Bear
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Here's a gift for you!
:-">
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Blushing
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Gee, thanks!
(-_-)
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Boring
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Oh, ha ha! good joke!
:=)
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Orangutan
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You look like one...
+<:-)
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Pope
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Bless you my child!
x_x
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Dead
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Goodbye cruel world!
x_O O_x
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Punched in the face
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Take that, you canhead!
:-) <>>>>>
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Smiling with a tie
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Have an interview today!
.)
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Watching you
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I know what you did last summer!
(_8-(|)
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Homer Simpson
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Don't eat me, I have a family, eat them!
:**
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Returning kiss
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Here take your kiss back!
:-&
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Tongue-tied
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Blah blah
blah!..
blah!..
Err:510
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Snake
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Hiss, I will kiss you!
Q:-)
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College graduate
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I want a job!
[:-|
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Frankenstein
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You.. Me.. Go .. Dating... Have .. Fun...zzzzzz
|-|
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Asleep
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Zzzzz
~:\
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Elvis
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Ain't That Lovin' You, Baby!
$__$
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Sees money
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Am I money minded?
8)~~*
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Frog catching a fly
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Hmmm.. tastes like chicken!
With that fly having slurped away by frog, I come to the conclusion of my full-of-expression article on emoticon meanings and their symbols. In this table, or if I may say, emoticon dictionary, as you can see, there are all kinds of expression you may think of. Also, you can slightly change the smiley face, by using a semi colon instead of a colon. While, : represents the eyes, ; stands for a wink. I think it will take a while for you to learn and remember all these symbols and meanings. So, whenever you are confused about any of these meanings, :-\, drop in and leave with a smile :). Cheers!