Path: utzoo!mnetor!uunet!husc6!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!ut-sally!utah-cs!utah-gr!uplherc!sp7040!obie!wsccs!terry
From: terry@wsccs.UUCP (terry)
Newsgroups: comp.misc
Subject: Re: Etymology of the :-) sign
Message-ID: <251@wsccs.UUCP>
Date: 4 Mar 88 04:24:50 GMT
References: <7512@boring.cwi.nl>
Lines: 71
Keywords: joking
Summary: Creature :-) Features (etymology)

In article <7512@boring.cwi.nl>, jurjen@cwi.nl (Jurjen N.E. Bos) writes:
> 
> Hi there,
> I see everybody in all different newsgroups use the :-) sign.
> What I'm interested in:
> - where does it come from?

	BIX.  It is a "BIXie".

> - who invented it?

	What's-her-name ... you know.  Actually, you sould ask wes@obie
(see my mail path).  He knows.  He's a BIX user (BIX-iot?).  I will be a
BIX user when it is free to me.

> - is it special for computer users (because ASCII) or used in a broader
>      circuit?

	I don't remember this gracing personal mail... seriously, I think
it is a computer phenomen, attributable to the more relaxed and verbose
atmosphere of computer mail.  With the volume of stuff going through a
net node, computer-conferencing (such as you are involved in now) is more
like a face-to-face conversation.  ":-)" is a facial expression.

> - is it an imitation of some thing (I know people using <) to represent
>      an eye).

	It is a "grin" or "smiley", usually referring to 'wry humor'.  You
will see one following puns, sometimes.

> I like the sign, and I am interested in etymology by hobby only.
> --     Jurjen.

Well, add these to your collection:

	>:-)	Evil smiley - someone has made a mistake and I have flamed him.
	;-)	Winking smiley - the foregoing comment was tongue-in-cheek.
	>;-)	I have just abused a user who has posted to unix.wizards by
		telling him the way to get another page in "more" is to type
		control-M... He shouldn't have asked the question there.
	>O,o<	Bill the (cat) BIXie.
	[:-)	Frank-n-BIXie
	(O,-)	A knowing wink
	:^)	Trying to get your nose out of joint.  Ignore me.
	!-)	Either another wink or a Cylon.  Not sure.
	|-)	A smug, cheese-eating grin.
	:-}	Another evil grin; alternately, a female BIXie (lips).
	:-{}	Another female BIXie; better articulated lipstick.
	(@.@)	Stoned/paranoid/overworked BIXie (circled around eyes)
	(O,@)	BIXie with blacked eye.
	:-o	Oh.
	:*)	Bozo the BIXie.
	(+,+)	Plastered BIXie.  Also (x,x).
	(:~	Elephant BIXie.  For you Hazeltine folks, the trunk's a tilde.
	:-]	Robo-BIXie (just a guess)
	:-)=	BIXie in bow tie.
	?-)	Somebody calls this winking.  On a VT series terminal, it
		looks like a dalmation or spot-the-BIXie.  I might also vote
		for pirate.
	8-)	The google-eyed BIXie.  Makes me think of Nermal.

	Using more than one line is cheating.  Everyone can make nifty things
with 1024 x 1280. 8-3	(English BIXie).


| Terry Lambert           UUCP: ...!decvax!utah-cs!century!terry              |
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