# Missing smilies **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [August 13, 2006, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missing-smilies/368517 "2006-08-13T03:35:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2006, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missing-smilies/368517/61 "2006-08-15T20:04:34Z")
> [@Excalibre](#): > > Um, I’m not gonna name names . . . > > Do you read MPSIMS? Yes, regularly. ---
**Author:** ![Cluricaun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/bb73d2/32.png) [@Cluricaun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cluricaun)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2006, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missing-smilies/368517/62 "2006-08-15T20:16:51Z")
> [@Martini Enfield](#): > > Why not get an O RLY? Owl smiley? 😃 And just what farking purpose would that serve? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Sattua](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sattua/32/11906_2.png) [@Sattua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sattua)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2006, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missing-smilies/368517/63 "2006-08-19T18:51:32Z")
> [@Frank](#): > > I’d also ask **Derleth** his opinion on a white trash smiley, a injun smiley, or a WASP smiley. > > I’d also ask whether he would consider that the appropriate uses of such smileys would be so vanishingly rare that they just would not be worth having or maintaining. Auughh! Can we please have a WASP smiley? I promise I’d tack it on the end of every post I made! ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2006, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missing-smilies/368517/64 "2006-08-19T19:14:35Z")
If you ever watch old Benny Hill reruns, you’ll know that often, when he made a double-entendre, he would stand there for a moment, with a tiny little “innocent” smirk on his face and his eyes rolled up into his head. The effect was: “Let’s see if anyone gets this one, and how long it will take them.” I wish there was an effective way to use the rolleyes smilie to convey that, without it being mistaken for an insult smilie. ---
**Author:** ![Carlyjay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Carlyjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carlyjay)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2006, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missing-smilies/368517/65 "2006-08-19T20:54:50Z")
What’s a wally? Sigh… I’ll never know now. ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2006, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missing-smilies/368517/66 "2006-08-19T23:39:03Z")
Whaddaya know! HOJM and Wally are indeed gone. Well, I never really needed them anyway, so their absence won’t bother me. As for new ones, I can do without Pukey or Farty or anything similar, thanks. But I also think we should bring back Smashie. Remember the one from the substitute board we used during the Winter of Missed Content? ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2006, 5:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missing-smilies/368517/67 "2006-08-20T05:45:17Z")
I think we need: a “Banging one’s head against a brick wall” smiley, as a way of expression frustration (rather than anger) at a given idea or situation. The rolleyes smiley does seem a tad… inconducive to reasonable discussion, given that there’s also a Raised Eyebrow Of Doubt smiley which communicates skepticism or disbelief in a more effective way. My objection to the Wally smiley wasn’t that it existed, it’s that “Putz” just… isn’t really an insult, IMO- it sounds more like a golf cart made by Hyundai than anything else. I’d have no objection to a “Fool!” Smiley (Ideally, I’d prefer a “Wanker!” Smiley, but that wouldn’t be especially appropriate, somehow. 😉 ) What was there even a Jewish Smiley in the first place, out of curiosity? ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2006, 12:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missing-smilies/368517/68 "2006-08-20T12:00:57Z")
> [@Clothahump](#): > > I’m sorry to see Wally vanish. He was useful. > > Suggestion: go visit [http://www.ataforums.com/](http://www.ataforums.com/). They have a smiley for Beating A Dead Horse that is outstanding, and I strongly suggest that we get it for SDMB. The day we get animated smileys is the day I demand my money back. Cease flogging this moribund equine, forthwith. ---
**Author:** ![TubaDiva](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tubadiva/32/507_2.png) [@TubaDiva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TubaDiva)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2006, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missing-smilies/368517/69 "2006-08-20T15:14:25Z")
> [@Martini Enfield](#): > > What was there even a Jewish Smiley in the first place, out of curiosity? I bet you’re actually asking why. IIRC someone asked why couldn’t we have one . . . I said I had never seen one . . . and one of our members actually produced one. I liked it, I thought it was creative and clever and unique, we put it on the board. Not everyone agreed with me and ultimately it became such an object of contention here on the board that I removed it; since people are still arguing about it, you can see just how contentious it has been. I regret I let my appreciation for someone’s creativity overcome my judgment on this issue. ---
**Author:** ![danceswithcats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9e8a1a/32.png) [@danceswithcats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/danceswithcats)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2006, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missing-smilies/368517/70 "2006-08-20T17:34:22Z")
Foo and fie. Upon joining SDMB, I thought it was way cool that we had a Hasidic smiley, and he was appropriate for ending a variety of posts, particularly when there was much kvetching taking place. Count me as one sorry to see him gone. ---
**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:** [August 20, 2006, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missing-smilies/368517/71 "2006-08-20T17:41:57Z")
> [@Carlyjay](#): > > What’s a wally? Sigh… I’ll never know now. [This](http://fathom.org/teemingmillions/WALLYWINK.GIF) is a “wally”. ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2006, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missing-smilies/368517/72 "2006-08-20T18:18:54Z")
> [@danceswithcats](#): > > Foo and fie. Upon joining SDMB, I thought it was way cool that we had a Hasidic smiley, and he was appropriate for ending a variety of posts, particularly when there was much kvetching taking place. Count me as one sorry to see him gone. Ditto here. I loved the fact that this one place where there was a Jewish symbol, for no specific reason. Very few places in the US have random Jewish imagry. ;j ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2006, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missing-smilies/368517/73 "2006-08-20T19:01:55Z")
> [@Shoshana](#): > > My vote is to can all of the smilies. I agree that rolleyes frequently is used in an insulting way. I absolutely vote against a vomiting smiley. I think it also will be used offensively. I’m not sure what’s so hard about stating one’s thoughts and feelings rather than sprinkling about winkies and rolleyeses and dubiouses. I am sure that, as I’ve said before, if a mere :rolleyes: insults or “enrages” you (as one poster said in another thread), the problem is not the smilie. > [@CKDexterHaven](#): > > I have said, since day one, if we ahve a Hasidic (hence stereotypical) Jewish smily, then we should also have a black-face smiley, and perhaps an Asian smiley with pig-tail and buck-teeth. It’s a complete surprise to me that the depiction of a Hasid is considered the equivalent of those hypothetical and racist smilies. And given that, it’s even more of a surprise the objection hasn’t been at least discussed publicly before and the smilie’s lasted this long. ---
**Author:** ![JohnBckWLD](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d6d6ee/32.png) [@JohnBckWLD](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnBckWLD)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2006, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missing-smilies/368517/74 "2006-08-21T17:26:10Z")
QUOTE=Shoshana]My vote is to can all of the smilies… [/QUOTE] Amen. But after reading this: > [@](#): > > …If we have a Hasidic (hence stereotypical) Jewish smily, then we should also have a black-face smiley, and perhaps an Asian smiley with pig-tail and buck-teeth. for those so inclined, they can still use text based smilies: **!😑** Apache **:-()** Black guy **|:-) ~D** A tea-drinking Brit **]:-]** Celt **\<|-)** Smiling Chinaman **\<|-(** Drowning Chinaman **♂+♂** Gay Male **@🙂** Indian **%\*}** Drunken Irishman **|-)** Japanese **😊** A tight-lipped Jew **♀+♀** Lesbian **♂-8–\> = ♀** MTF \***)🙂** Happy Muslim Male \***):||** Muslim female **\<|-)** Vietnamese rice-farmer **}(☹** Viking ---
**Author:** ![JohnBckWLD](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d6d6ee/32.png) [@JohnBckWLD](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnBckWLD)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2006, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missing-smilies/368517/75 "2006-08-21T18:00:17Z")
> [@rowrrbazzle](#): > > It’s a complete surprise to me that the depiction of a Hasid is considered the equivalent of those hypothetical and racist smilies… Exactly. To compare a cartoon face with curly sideburns and a hat or yarmulke with his hypothetical Asian _anal_ogy is beyond the pate. Not all Asians are buck-toothed and wear pigtails (don’t ask for a cite) - whereas every male Hasidim dresses in the same exact way with a trademark beard and sideburns. Many (non-orthodox) people of the Jewish faith that I’m acquainted with are embarrassed to be associated with the Hasidic sect. Now, I don’t pretend to be a mind-reader, but perhaps Dex is projecting the discomfort he holds for the Jewish\<-\>Hasidic link on a little cartoon image. After the ‘weak as water’ Asian analogy, it’s as likely a theory as any. ---
**Author:** ![Slacker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6bbea6/32.png) [@Slacker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slacker)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2006, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missing-smilies/368517/76 "2006-08-21T18:37:48Z")
> [@Revenant Threshold](#): > > Can any hint be given as to when the next upgrade is going to be? Hee. ---
**Author:** ![Excalibre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/898d66/32.png) [@Excalibre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Excalibre)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2006, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missing-smilies/368517/77 "2006-08-21T18:41:08Z")
> [@TubaDiva](#): > > I bet you’re actually asking why. > > IIRC someone asked why couldn’t we have one . . . I said I had never seen one . . . and one of our members actually produced one. I liked it, I thought it was creative and clever and unique, we put it on the board. > > Not everyone agreed with me and ultimately it became such an object of contention here on the board that I removed it; since people are still arguing about it, you can see just how contentious it has been. I regret I let my appreciation for someone’s creativity overcome my judgment on this issue. It appears that, far from this being a “contentious issue”, only a tiny minority of people were actually offended by this. If you consider a tiny minority opposing something to automatically make it a “contentious issue”, then I can’t imagine what the negotiation process is like when you want to see a movie with a group of friends. I know that CK Dexter Haven is an administrator, but it seems that putting his personal discomfort with the smiley ahead of the opinions of the clear majority of board users is the mistake. One dissenting opinion does not make a controversy. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2006, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missing-smilies/368517/78 "2006-08-21T23:32:56Z")
> [@Excalibre](#): > > I know that CK Dexter Haven is an administrator, but it seems that putting his personal discomfort with the smiley ahead of the opinions of the clear majority of board users is the mistake. One dissenting opinion does not make a controversy. I missed the poll where a clear majority of board users preferred keeping that particular smiley. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2006, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missing-smilies/368517/79 "2006-08-21T23:46:44Z")
> [@samclem](#): > > I missed the poll where a clear majority of board users preferred keeping that particular smiley. This is an attempt at whooshing someone, right? Otherwise it makes no freaking sense. You never held a poll, you simply removed the smilie. ---
**Author:** ![Excalibre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/898d66/32.png) [@Excalibre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Excalibre)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2006, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missing-smilies/368517/80 "2006-08-21T23:48:34Z")
> [@samclem](#): > > I missed the poll where a clear majority of board users preferred keeping that particular smiley. I’m judging by this thread. I could be wrong. You have no way to prove it. It didn’t stop the administration from acting, did it? Seriously, are you actually arguing that point with me? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missing-smilies/368517.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missing-smilies/368517.md?page=5)