what are the meanings of these 2 smileys? :) :D

Factual Questions
1

There’s :slight_smile:

And there’s :smiley:

Both are kinda happy fellows. So when are we supposed to use 'em?

Me,…I’ve always just used the first guy.
Because it’s easy. And because I’m old— he reminds me of the 1970’s when he was frickin’ everywhere: T-shirts, cash register receipts, every sign at theshopping mall, and printed on the outside of the envelope from my university saying I’d been accepted.
I put this in GQ and not in ATMB because it’s a general question about etiquette on the internet, not just a specific question about SDMB. These two smileys are common on lots of other message boards.

Even though there are no other message boards worth reading.
:slight_smile: . Or maybe :smiley: .
See, I dunno which one to use…Help me!

2

I use the smiley to indicate friendliness, the big grin to indicate laughing.

3

Don’t let the icons fool you. The :smiley: is supposed to be an open laughing mouth, it was “LOL” before that had even been conceived (emoticons date from pre-Web email).

4

I’m a very frequent user of :smiley: here on The Dope board, and to me it embodies a sarcastic and/or sometimes meta-over-the-top politically incorrect type of statement…

5

I use :smiley: when I make a joke or a pun and expect the reader to groan at the sheer awfulness of it. It’s like saying, “Thanks. I’ll be here all week. Make sure to try the veal.”

6

To me, :slight_smile: is “how nice” or “I’m friendly” or “I agree” and :smiley: is laughing, LOL, ROFL, or LMAO.
:smiley: can also mean “Hey, it’s a joke! Please don’t smite me!”

7

I’m with you guys! :cool:
I use the different ‘smilies’ all the time, be forewarned though, some of the other Dopers (not gonna point a finger at anybody in particular) get their panties all twisted, if you use them too freely. :rolleyes: