Emoticon Dictionary

The emoticon dictionary is full of informations around emoticons. You want to know more about emoticons? Then I try to help out with some interesting facts about emoticons.

• Every day we use emoticons, they help us to express our feelings in the world wide web. The word emoticon is a combination of emotion and icon. In specific circles you have also the term emotes, which is also a synonym for emoticons.

There are various types of emoticons. Text emoticons for example, can created easily with your keyboard. Text emoticons have also a lot of variations, western emoticons are not the same like emoticons in asia. This is a fact from the different symbols and letters in asia and the western hemisphere. Today most text emoticons, converted into small images like in instant messengers, chats, blogs or web forums. These small images are also called emoticons or emotes.

Abbreviations

• The internet have his own slang, you found many shorthand words, like:
  afk – away from keyboard
  Some instant messengers use abbreviations and transform them also into emoticons.

Animation

• The animation is used in image emoticons and will give an emoticon live. In an animation there many single frames in a row, everyone with a delay, to get a liquid animation. The animation allows you to tell little stories with emoticons or just capture an expression, in a perfect way.
  For example:
  
  Never forget that the emoticon should be still easy recognizable. Sometimes you’ve only seconds and this time is important if you succeed with your emoticon or just fail. So don’t confuse the people, with to large animations, where they did not know, what the emoticon expressed at the moment.

Arabic Emoticons

• The Arabic emoticons are a variation of text emoticons and written in arabic letters. Read the arabic emoticons horizontally. You see, if you’re creative, you could design out of every letter or symbol new emoticons.

Asia Emoticons

• Asia emoticons look different as western emoticons. In asia represent they eyes the expression of the emoticon. Read the asia emoticons also horizontally. Asia emoticons are known as KAO’s. KAO is a japanese term for face. The emoticons are written in 2-byte letters. So you’ve more options, to create new emoticons.

Colons

• Colons are used in most web forums and larger communities, to add image emoticons into your message. So you have a massive choice of emoticons, almost every mood could represented as an image emoticon. For example you wrote :smile: and get this image emoticon

Delay

• The Delay is the time between single frames in an animated emoticon. If you vary it you have different results for the same animation.

Emote

• Emote is a term for an image emoticon. An emote have most of the time, a base of 15×15 pixel and is drawn pixel by pixel.

Emoticon

• Emoticons there are text emoticons and there are image emoticons. Both of them represent a mood or feeling in the world wide web. Most of the time text emoticons converted into image emoticons. The characters involved are often round in shape and can come in a variety of colours. The average size for an emoticon is 15×15 pixels, however this can vary.

Emoticonist

• People which create image emoticons, called emoticonist.

Frame

• A frame is a single image that is used in an animated emoticon. In every single frame you have one position of the emoticon. If you set the single frames together, the emoticon move the way you wanted.

Image Emoticons

• Image emoticons converted out of text emoticons today in almost every single instant messenger, chat, blog or web forum. Most of the time there are unique emoticon sets, to express your feelings and moods in your messages. For example you type an smiling text emoticon :) and it will appear an image emoticon .

Pixel Art

• Most image emoticons, are made with pixel art. This means every emoticon is created, pixel by pixel. There are different basic layouts in different sizes, but the most used and best fitted base is the 15×15 pixel body. If you use the 15×15 pixel body you don’t destroy, the flow of reading to much.

Scott Elliott Fahlman

• Scott Elliot Falman is the father of the electronic text emoticon. On 19.September 1982 Scott Elliot Fahlman has create the smile emoticon :-) and sad emoticon :-( for a computer science board.
  He explained to read the characters sideways. To mark a joke the people should use :-) to mark things that are not jokes they should use :-(

Shading

• The shading is the basic layout of an emoticon. The way you shade an emoticon, have a visual impression on the emoticon. For example I show you this smile emoticon: .
  You’ll see that every shading, have another effect on the look of the emoticon. In this animation you see twenty different shadings.

Smiley

• A smiley is similar to an emoticon, however there are some slight differences. Smilies are generally slightly larger in size than emoticons and are most commonly yellow in colour. Another common feature is individual fingers, which are not often used within emoticons.

Smiley Maker

• People that creates smilies as opposed to emoticons, is known as a smiley maker.

Static

• A emoticon should be easily recognizable. The best of what you can do is to capture the expression you want to show, in one single frame. For sure this is one of the hardest parts to show with one single frame in such a small canvas all the details. But if you reached the goal you’ve a amazing piece of art.

Western Emoticons

• Read the western emoticons from left to right. Recognize the emoticons better, when you move your head toward your left shoulder. You can also use a nose in western emoticons. For example a smiling text emoticon :) just add a hyphen :-) or a circle :o) to display the nose.
  Western emoticons are written in 1-byte letters. There are tons of variations and interpretations of single western text emoticons. Just be creative and made your own text emoticons.

• You missed something or still have questions to emoticons? Let me know it. Thanks.