'Net Language, Part II: Emoticons

by AnnaLisa Michalski

originally published in the ezine-turned-blog Word-wise, October 7, 2007

Part I of "Net Language" discussed some of the vocabulary that our information age has introduced into English. Part II continues the discussion of the Internet from a slightly different language perspective.

Somehow, even those of us who have been reluctant to adopt the oft-abbreviated language common on the Internet have been willing to accept the use of emoticons. These cleverly arranged symbols have become so prevalent that even popular word-processing software used in workplaces around the world includes some of them among the default automatic correction options. Consider how often you see these emoticons in online discussions or even e-mails from the boss:

smile :)
frown :(
wink ;)
surprise :O

But why are emoticons so much easier to accept than other 'Net shorthand? Perhaps it comes down to a combination of purpose and composition:

Other shorthand, used primarily for the sake of saving a few keystrokes, generally is composed of letters (or occasionally numerals, as in b4) that stand for words.

On the other hand, emoticons are used to convey mood and are generally composed of at least two symbols, one or more of which are punctuation marks.

And that is the key to the emoticon's appeal: at its core, punctuation has always had the ability to convey emotion. Using an exclamation point instead of a period, for example, can change the tone of the same words from factual to incredulous. Consider the effect a mere change in punctuation has here:

Susan is going to wear the red ball gown to cocktail hour.
(And Jean will wear the black, and I will wear the blue.)
Susan is going to wear the red ball gown to cocktail hour!
(Va-va-voom!)
Susan is going to wear the red ball gown to cocktail hour?
(I wonder why...it's a casual affair.)
Susan is going to wear the red ball gown to cocktail hour?!
(But she bought that gown before she had gastric bypass!)

This is true not just in English but in many languages that use the same or similar character sets. That grants emoticons a more universal appeal than other shorthand, which can only be fully understood when written and read by those fluent in the same language. If X sends this message to Y,

Wjengosh ghsng rksoidj vwla cppi rx j ejjwm vjsllv ewjf scunqs fol.
:(

the "frown" at the end allows Y to ferret out X's general emotional state even if he doesn't understand every word of X's language.

Clearly, the communicative power of emoticons is great. They appear to be here to stay. :)