Mail symbols

[DumbStick 13]

Hey recently I am sending mails with some Japanese people and I'm not up to what some of the symbols mean.

 

For example, what does this signify

 

（＾＾）

 

Is it smiling/laughing?

 

Thanks!

[HelperElfMissy 42]

Originally Posted By: wiki

Users from East Asia popularized a style of emoticons that can be understood without tilting one's head to the left. This style arose on ASCII NET of Japan in 1986.[15] Similar looking emoticons were used by Byte Information Exchange (BIX) around the same time.[16]

These emoticons are usually found in a format similar to (*_*). The asterisks indicate the eyes; the central character, commonly an underscore, the mouth; and the parentheses, the outline of the face. Two separate studies, in 2007 at Hokkaido University and in 2009 at Glasgow University, showed that Japanese and other East Asians read facial expressions by looking mainly at the eyes, and the researchers noted that this is reflected in East Asian emoticons which put emphasis on the eyes, compared to Western emoticons which emote mainly with the mouth.[17][18]

Different emotions are expressed by changing the character representing the eyes, for example ' T ' can be used to express crying or sadness (T_T). The emphasis on the eyes is reflected in the common usage of emoticons that use only the eyes, e.g. ^^. Looks of embarrassment are either represented by (x_x) or (. Characters like hyphens or periods can replace the underscore; the period is often used for a smaller, "cuter" mouth or to represent a nose, e.g. (^.^). Alternatively, the mouth/nose can be left out entirely, e.g. (^^). The parentheses also can often be replaced with braces, e.g. {}. Many times, the parentheses are left out completely, e.g. ^^, >.<, o_O, O.O, <.<; A quotation mark ", apostrophe ', or semicolon ; can be added to the emoticon to imply apprehension or embarrassment, in the same way that a sweat drop is used in anime culture. Many other characters can be appended to also indicate arms or hands, e.g. <()> or \(^o^)/ or ⊂( ﾟヮﾟ)⊃ or (/.\) => (\^o^/) (peek-a-boo) or <(-.-<) or /(T_T)\.lml (>_<) lml Rock on!

Full Article on ASCII emoticons here

To me it looks like someone rolling thier eyes....

[DumbStick 13]

Wow thought the thread had got lost somewhere, it was just buried on the 2nd page!

 

Thanks Mamabear, got it!

[RobBright 35]

Test time - what do these mean?

 

(^w^)

(ToT)

(`ヘ´)

(^â—‡^)â”›

(

(@_@)

m(_ _)m

(-.-)zzZ

(≧ε≦)

(o^∀^o)

(⌒～⌒)

[HelperElfMissy 42]

I'll play - nfi - but I'll have a go...

 

(^w^) - looks like a normal smiley to me...not sure about the W

(ToT)- crying

(`ヘ´)- say what? confused

(^â—‡^)â”›- waving hello

( - using my blue tooth

(@_@) - surprised/shocked

m(_ _)m - peering over the edge

(-.-)zzZ - having a sleep

(≧ε≦)- Cat

(o^∀^o) - face stuffed full off food

(⌒～⌒) - smugly contented

 

How'd I do?

[grungy-gonads 54]

I just ignore them and/or think they are all winking to me.

[snowdude 44]

Mamabear looks like you spend to much time emailing! J/K

 

Have to say I never use them when writing emails, even though some of my friends sometimes uses them! I can proudly say I have no idea what half of those mean, even though I am a bit of a computer boff!

[HelperElfMissy 42]

Funny Snowdude.

 

Actually I just looked at them and 'read' an emotion/meaning. NO IDEA if they are right or not. In my job as a Sign Language Interpreter more than 50% of that communication comes from facial expressions alone - so even a 2D ASCII image gives me some clues. In this instance a useless fascination - but stuck in Tokyo with no Japanese it is a handy little skill to have

[RobBright 35]

Will give it till sunday then announce the results

[1 4]

(@_@) isn't that completely sozzled??