# Jewish smiley can be erroneously created **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [June 15, 2003, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jewish-smiley-can-be-erroneously-created/182036 "2003-06-15T16:39:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![tracer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tracer/32/20578_2.png) [@tracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tracer)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2003, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jewish-smiley-can-be-erroneously-created/182036/1 "2003-06-15T16:39:43Z")
Look what happens when I type the following character combinations:[ul][li]A \< followed by a j : \ followed by a j : \>j[/ul]In neither of those cases did I type a semicolon before the j. Perhaps the \< and \> are getting converted into their HTML character entity equivalents (\< and \> , respectively), both of which end in a semicolon, and **then** the text is being scanned for smiley strings. ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2003, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jewish-smiley-can-be-erroneously-created/182036/2 "2003-06-15T17:05:16Z")
Doing a View Source confirms your suspicion: > [@](#): > > Look what happens when I type the following character combinations:\\A **\<** followed by a j ---
**Author:** ![tracer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tracer/32/20578_2.png) [@tracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tracer)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2003, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jewish-smiley-can-be-erroneously-created/182036/3 "2003-06-15T18:34:10Z")
Not only that, but feast your eyes on what comes next: > [@](#): > > \\A \< followed by a j : <\ And, as an aside, for some reason Internet Explorer renders a & followed by an lt **without** a semicolon as a \< . ---
**Author:** ![Mac\_Guffin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/2bfe46/32.png) [@Mac\_Guffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mac_Guffin)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2003, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jewish-smiley-can-be-erroneously-created/182036/4 "2003-06-15T19:11:59Z")
\j Huh. ---
**Author:** ![Achernar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e274bd/32.png) [@Achernar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Achernar)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2003, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jewish-smiley-can-be-erroneously-created/182036/5 "2003-06-15T22:07:43Z")
Here’s what I get when I put a less-than followed by a right-paren: \<) It puts a space in between. Isn’t that weird? Here’s a clumsy way to get around the HOJM bug: \ **Author:** ![tracer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tracer/32/20578_2.png) [@tracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tracer)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2003, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jewish-smiley-can-be-erroneously-created/182036/6 "2003-06-16T19:03:56Z") Achernar: How did you do that second example? ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2003, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jewish-smiley-can-be-erroneously-created/182036/7 "2003-06-16T19:17:22Z")
Hit the Quote button under his post and you’ll see the coding he used. ---
**Author:** ![Ice\_Wolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/dfb087/32.png) [@Ice\_Wolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ice_Wolf)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2003, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jewish-smiley-can-be-erroneously-created/182036/8 "2003-06-16T19:47:28Z")
This isn’t restricted to just the ;j smiley, of course. Why not just disable smilies when you post? ---
**Author:** ![Achernar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e274bd/32.png) [@Achernar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Achernar)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2003, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jewish-smiley-can-be-erroneously-created/182036/9 "2003-06-17T03:51:53Z")
What if you need a different smiley in the same post? ---
**Author:** ![Ice\_Wolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/dfb087/32.png) [@Ice\_Wolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ice_Wolf)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2003, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jewish-smiley-can-be-erroneously-created/182036/10 "2003-06-17T04:43:45Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Achernar \* > \*\*What if you need a different smiley in the same post? \*\* Then something like your fix-it would have to be used. Or just put a space between, and call it a hamster whoopsie. 🙂 My apologies. It’s just that, seeing as the combo was a greater-than/less-than symbol and a “j”, I presumed it was being used for erudite stuff not normally associated with the smilie. I’ll back out, now. I know when I’m outta my depth. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![tracer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tracer/32/20578_2.png) [@tracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tracer)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2003, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jewish-smiley-can-be-erroneously-created/182036/11 "2003-06-17T18:00:18Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Ice Wolf \* > **This isn’t restricted to just the ;j smiley, of course.** Actually, it is. The problem here is the “hidden semicolon” that gets created when you plop down a \< or \> sign. The only two smilies that start with a semicolon are ;j and 😉 – and accidental 😉 's are already taken are of by that automatic space that Achernar discovered gets inserted between a \< and a ). ---
**Author:** ![Ice\_Wolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/dfb087/32.png) [@Ice\_Wolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ice_Wolf)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2003, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jewish-smiley-can-be-erroneously-created/182036/12 "2003-06-17T19:17:20Z")
I beg to disagree. I’ve seen accidental instances, for example, of the 😛 and :o cropping up, where the colon combo gets tangled up in the text. That is what I meant. There are instances, aside from your example, where somehow the program always interprets certain combinations as the formula for a smilie, even when part of a string of characters. ---
**Author:** ![Achernar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e274bd/32.png) [@Achernar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Achernar)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2003, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jewish-smiley-can-be-erroneously-created/182036/13 "2003-06-17T23:37:44Z")
That’s true, but at least people know that the colon is there before they submit. (And sorry, I didn’t mean to sound confrontational before. Your solution is best when you don’t need any other smileys.) ---
**Author:** ![Ice\_Wolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/dfb087/32.png) [@Ice\_Wolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ice_Wolf)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2003, 5:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jewish-smiley-can-be-erroneously-created/182036/14 "2003-06-18T05:47:14Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Achernar \* > **That’s true, but at least people know that the colon is there before they submit.** Agreed. It’s still a bit of a nuisance, though. > [@](#): > > \*\* > (And sorry, I didn’t mean to sound confrontational before. Your solution is best when you don’t need any other smileys.) \*\* Nah, **Achernar** , not at all, mate. Absolutely no worries there. I’m probably sounding like someone with ruffled fur in this thread. My apologies to all if that’s how I came across – either too much caffiene, or not enough when I post early in the morning! 🙂 Hope a solution can be found for the ;j smilie problem, though. Unlike the others, it’s a complicated one to fix, by looks. (Y’know, I never thought I’d ever get a chance to use the ;j smilie around here. I know I haven’t been helpful, but – thanks! :)) ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2003, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jewish-smiley-can-be-erroneously-created/182036/15 "2003-06-18T20:36:21Z")
I’ve got to test that less than- parenthesis thing here… Bra wane: \<) Bra wax: \<( Ket wane: \>) Ket wax: \>( And wane: &) And wax: &( Hard space wane: . ) Hard space wax: . ( ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2003, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jewish-smiley-can-be-erroneously-created/182036/16 "2003-06-18T20:45:02Z")
OK, so it only triggers with ending parentheses (I presume that winking frowns aren’t too common). Ampersands don’t trigger a space or a smiley, even though they _should_ be converted to escape sequences, and hard spaces result in a smiley (if applicable). Does the insert-a-space duct taping apply if smileys are disabled? Let’s see: Bra wane: \<) Bra wax: \<( Ket wane: \>) Ket wax: \>( And wane: &) And wax: &( Hard space wane: . ) Hard space wax: . ( ---
**Author:** ![PhiloVance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e19adc/32.png) [@PhiloVance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PhiloVance)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2003, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jewish-smiley-can-be-erroneously-created/182036/17 "2003-06-29T01:13:57Z")
🙂 ☹ :o 😉 😛 🆒 :rolleyes: :mad: :eek: ;j :wally :smack: :dubious: Yep, works for me.