About Chat Emoticons Tips
Read these 3 About Chat Emoticons Tips tips to make your life smarter, better, faster and wiser. Each tip is approved by our Editors and created by expert writers so great we call them Gurus. LifeTips is the place to go when you need to know about Chat tips and hundreds of other topics.
Text emoticons
About Chat Emoticons: The word "emoticon" is a combination of the words "emotion" and "icon." Text emoticons are shortcuts that add zest to the often flat text of chat or instant messaging. Text emoticons are used anywhere in sentences – before, after, or within, and can also stand on their own. Here are some of the more common text emoticons :-) smile :-)) big smile (double chin) :-D laughing ;-) wink :-( frown :-/ smirk :-P sticking tongue out :-x kiss/my lips are sealed :-0 surprise 8-| confused/concerned !-( black eye !-) proud of black eye #:-0 shocked %*} inebriated >>:-<< furious >:-( annoyed >:) mischievous
Graphical emoticons
The word "emoticon" is a combination of the words "emotion" and "icon." Graphical emoticons are shortcuts that add zest to the often flat text of chat or instant messaging. Graphical emoticons are used anywhere in sentences – before, after, or within, and can also stand on their own. Some chat services offer the option to automatically translate text emoticons into graphical emoticons. Here are some of the more common graphical emoticons: [link to palette]
Gestures
Gestures are unique to chat software. Gestures consist of either a regular graphic in .gif format, or an animated graphic in .gif format. The graphic is accompanied by a short sound file in .wav format. In other words, gestures are small pictures or animations, sometimes accompanied by a sound that can be sent along with text while you are signed in. Gestures can add a bit of color and flair to the somewhat dry emoticon :-) Imagine if that smiley face winked at you and giggled! The challenge of chat is to make the communication as real and meaningful to the participants as possible. Sometimes, it is difficult to ascertain the actual meaning of plain text. Chatters, unless they are using voice or live chat, cannot see the people that they chat with. Emoticons and Gestures enhance the environment by adding images and sounds to a text based environment. These devices act almost as punctuation! They add emphasis and help discern the meaning or intention of the text it follows.
