The issue you raise

I recently sent a Private Message and belatedly saw that because I properly used a quotation mark and a parenthesis, it translated to a winking smiley. I gess I gotta stop tryin ta rite gud inglesh, cause it dont matta no more.

")

Awww, how cute!

Minus 40 degrees... Is that Fahrenheit or Celsius?

I used to think they were goofy but now I think they're an important part of online communication. The implementation could.be improved.to prevent accidents, for sure.

Ok, I can see how they might enhance communication, although I've said elsewhere something to the effect that a poster could be nasty but hide behind a smiley. I realize, too, that it's a matter of opinion as to whether they're useful or not, but it's a fact that they've messed up at least one usage of proper English, and who knows what else is lurking, just waiting to jump out and smile at us. (Kind of like a cute-faced pit bull that suddenly decides to bite your leg.) It would be ironic(al) if a semiotician writing about emoticons has his or her published text altered.

Minus 40 degrees... Is that Fahrenheit or Celsius?

is no more a problem with emoticons than with text in general.

Now excuse me while I throw the baby downstairs some candy.

Minus 40 degrees... Is that Fahrenheit or Celsius?

when law, medical, and engineering schools start graduating students whose texts are "enhanced" by emoticons. "The bridge I designed fell down!"

Everyone should be issued a kit with a full compliment of emoticon face masks. They would all be stylistically standardized and universally recognized for what each means. Any time one person having visual contact with another speaks, that person dons the mask representing their state of mind, which eliminates any confusion as the non-standardized facial features of the speaker are hidden. By doing this, there will be less confusion as to what is being communicated.

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 06/06/2011 10:51AM by Laz. (view changes)