I like emoticons, those little smiling keyboard symbols that are used to communicate a shorthand lingo for emotions in our communications through the Internet, e.g., ;o), :o(, and a host of other symbols.
An Internet pal sent one out on a listeserver today, <@:( , that reminded me of the subject. I'm not sure, but I think he was saying his pal was a dunce.
Some emoticons are obvious to most folks such as ;o) (a wink with the smiling face), but there are many others and a lot of emoticons are subtle and not obvious to many people.
If you have kids, you can bet they know and use this secret Internet language to communicate to their friends in shorthand.
Since we now use the Internet as a frequent medium of communication, and we all know that the written word is often misinterpreted, emoticons help convey emotions that clue our readers into our mood, or moods, and whether we are communicating with seriousness or humor.
I enjoy writing and it is a talent that I have developed over a lifetime. I am not perfect with the tools of grammar--far from it-- however, I write well enough to communicate the points I wish to make in a manner that others are able to understand me.
For a sampling of humorous emoticons, See http://messenger.yahoo.com/hiddenemoticons.php .
For those who want to learn more about the subject, just use www.google.com or www.yahoo.com and use "emoticons" as your search term.
I suspect someone, somewhere, may be using emoticons now to give meaning to words on a headstone. Hey, who knows, I may be on to something here! ;o)
Burton Fletcher
www.USAMonuments.com
Burton@USAMonuments.com
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