# the use of :), ;), and other smiley faces
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-use-of-and-other-smiley-faces/95890
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion
**Created:** [November 29, 2001, 7:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-use-of-and-other-smiley-faces/95890 "2001-11-29T07:40:47Z")
**Posts on this page:** 8
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@ryoushi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ryoushi)
#### Post date: [November 29, 2001, 7:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-use-of-and-other-smiley-faces/95890/1 "2001-11-29T07:40:47Z")
What is the correct way of inserting smiley faces into parentheses?
All other grammatical errors I may have made aside, is it
“It isn’t really that important (who uses smiley faces in a serious passage anyway? :)).”
**or**
“Mods, please move this thread to IMHO if necessary (it may be too absurd for this forum :).”
The first may be more correct, but looks odd due to the double ).
Any ideas?
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### Author:  [@Dragonblink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dragonblink)
#### Post date: [November 29, 2001, 8:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-use-of-and-other-smiley-faces/95890/2 "2001-11-29T08:12:53Z")
I usually put an extra space in there, like so: (insert amusing side comment here 🙂 )
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### Author:  [@Joyfulgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joyfulgirl)
#### Post date: [November 29, 2001, 8:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-use-of-and-other-smiley-faces/95890/3 "2001-11-29T08:20:37Z")
I usually use a space between the emoticon and right parentheses too (better than that dreaded double chin smiley 🙂 ). Still doesn’t look completely right though.
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### Author:  [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)
#### Post date: [November 29, 2001, 12:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-use-of-and-other-smiley-faces/95890/4 "2001-11-29T12:16:56Z")
I use ordinary smileys as parentheses. However, I add another parenthesis after Board smileys (since I know they will turn into little pictures 🙂 )
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### Author:  [@John\_Kentzel-Griffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Kentzel-Griffin)
#### Post date: [November 29, 2001, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-use-of-and-other-smiley-faces/95890/5 "2001-11-29T12:53:00Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by \*\*\*ryoushi \*\*
> “Mods, please move this thread to IMHO if necessary (it may be too absurd for this forum :).”
Done
**DrMatrix** - General Questions Moderator
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### Author:  [@DVous\_Means](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DVous_Means)
#### Post date: [November 29, 2001, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-use-of-and-other-smiley-faces/95890/6 "2001-11-29T12:55:50Z")
Why not use the other types of parentheses that are available on your keyboard: \*\*{ } or \*\* ?
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### Author:  [@Zyada](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zyada)
#### Post date: [November 30, 2001, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-use-of-and-other-smiley-faces/95890/7 "2001-11-30T01:21:52Z")
I either re-write the sentence - after all, use of the smileys is highly informal. (Or I might use a different smiley - : D ) Or maybe put it outside the paragraph (like this) : )
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### Author:  [@Cliffy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cliffy)
#### Post date: [November 30, 2001, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-use-of-and-other-smiley-faces/95890/8 "2001-11-30T14:54:52Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Dragonblink \*
> \*\*I usually put an extra space in there, like so: (insert amusing side comment here 🙂 ) \*\*
I do the same. I frequently see double parentheses in case citations, so it doesn’t look that weird to me.
–Cliffy