I’ve got to agree with whats been said previously, smileys are really tacky. If you can’t use words well enough the convey what you’re feeling then perhaps a message board isn’t the best use of your time(english classes come to mind). At first they were cute(when they were just the 
type )…and creative in a way, but when they started replacing them with graphics, well thats just tacky.
On a seriouser note, I’d like to opine that it is very difficult to express something ironically in type without being misconstrued. For example, on one post I asked if I should notify the FCC that there was an error in one of Cecil’s column, and somebody thought I was serious. Clearly, one of us thought the other one was a total ding-dong. Had I put in a little smiley after my FCC reference, I suspect that said ding-dong would have gotten the joke.
So here’s a test. Some of the following sentence will be ironic, and YOU have to guess which ones:
I am a 200-pound underemployed eccentric from the Pacific Northwest.
My name in real life is Luigi Raphael Malcolm Gonzales.
I have a bad bad habit of eating Hostess Cupcakes.
My donkey’s name is Henry Holograph Huxley.
I want a schnauzer wit my wienerschnitzel.
Go ahead. Guess! I dare you!
Boris, I would guess that they are all true. Tell your donkey I say hello.
harharhar(for those graphically imparied, guess that would mean the chief).
i belive smileys are needed for communicating a “mood”. a smiley often relates the seriousness of the post. since we cant relate that via a tone of voice, smileys become essential.
for example, the quote from polycarp, if there wouldnt have been a smiley i would have read it with a different tone. if there would have been a different smiley, the “meaning” wouldnt have been the same.
like:
You mean we have a way to communicate with BjOrn?
is something different than the original one. and:
You mean we have a way to communicate with BjOrn? :eek:
too…
its the flavour in ice cream, the gas we use in cars and the difference between getting some and getting none!
bj0rn - getting some!
bj0rn says:
its the flavour in ice cream, the gas we use in cars and the difference between getting some and getting none!
Please add some smilies there bj0rn, 'cause I for one have NO CLUE what this sentence means. Are you saying you found a girlfriend while filling up your gas tank in Iceland ?
Coldfire
“You know how complex women are”
- Neil Peart, Rush (1993)
I hope everyone is having a smiley day!
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–
Teeming Millions: http://fathom.org/teemingmillions
“Meat flaps, yellow!” - DrainBead, naked co-ed Twister chat
O p a l C a t
www.opalcat.com
In the course of life you will learn not to argue with a female on any subject regardless of whether you think she’s an idiot or not
“Do or do not, there is no try” - Yoda
I’m with the Chief to some extent. Smilies strike me as something like training wheels for those who haven’t learned to experess themselves properly in words. I don’t have anything against smilies per se, but I think their overuse says loads about the poster’s literacy level. And anyhoo, the original, American-style, sideways “smilies” always struck me as kind of dumb. Happy to say that I’ve never used them. (^o^)/
DHR
Exits, pursued by a bear
Wow. I’m impressed.
The trouble with Sir Launcelot is by the time he comes riding up, you’ve already married King Arthur.
Yeah, OpalCat rules!
>< DARWIN >
__L___L
:o :o :o :o :o :o :o :o :o :o :o :o
:o :o :o :o :o :o
:o :o :o :o
:o 
:o
:o :o
:o 
:o
:o :o
:o :o :o :o
:o :o :o :o :o :o
:o :o :o :o :o :o :o :o :o :o :o :o
If this works, there’s probably a special place in hell reserved for me.
If it doesn’t, it’ll probably break the board and get me shot.
Way to live dangerously.
“I guess one person can make a difference, although most of the time they probably shouldn’t.”