Are Smilies Immature?

semi-pro waster · 17 May 2008 at 11:12

Sometimes necessary for conveying tone but generally I try not to use them all that much, if people can't work out what I'm saying or the way I'm meaning it from my post then I probably haven't explained myself well enough. That or they could be stupid, it's one of the two I think.

I much prefer them to the TLAs that litter online conversation though: "lol", "wtf" and so on.

Amnesia · 17 May 2008 at 11:28

seek said:
Rolleyes is the ultimate smiley. It's power for winding people up is increadible.

^^

Dingleberry88 · 17 May 2008 at 11:40

Zefan · 17 May 2008 at 12:01

I've got nothing against smilies, however some people overdo/abuse them to the point of it being embarrassing to read.

Mr^B · 17 May 2008 at 12:09

semi-pro waster said:
Sometimes necessary for conveying tone but generally I try not to use them all that much, if people can't work out what I'm saying or the way I'm meaning it from my post then I probably haven't explained myself well enough. That or they could be stupid, it's one of the two I think.

I much prefer them to the TLAs that litter online conversation though: "lol", "wtf" and so on.

"wtf" and "lol" aren't TLAs (and neither is "TLA").

:rolleyes:

Nitro_Junkie · 17 May 2008 at 12:13

james.miller said:
Clever people use full stops!

wooo deja vu. have we had this thread before?

edit: im SURE we have.....

They also used apostrophes

and capital letters for I, and the beginning of sentaces.

</grammar nazi>

I would also like to add (not in any relevance to the above post before anyone gets angry.)

semi-pro waster · 17 May 2008 at 12:18

Mr^B said:
"wtf" and "lol" aren't TLAs (and neither is "TLA").

Really chief? Guess you'd better tell Wikipedia. They are abbreviations based on the initial letters of the words in the phrase therefore they are TLAs.

Amnesia · 17 May 2008 at 12:31

Nitro_Junkie said:
They also used apostrophes and capital letters for I, and the beginning of sentaces.

</grammar nazi>

N

Zefan · 17 May 2008 at 12:42

memory said:
N

Not just that, it's spelled "sentences".

Glaucus · 17 May 2008 at 12:46

smileys are about the only way to tell if someone is joking. They put meaning behind the words.

excess or used all the time is just pointless and silly.

Richdog · 17 May 2008 at 12:48

Smileys are a means of conveying how you feel... so they are useful tfor people to tlel when you're joking etc.

However, I would happily see a ban on the rather pointless and over/mis-used rolleyes smiley, it makes me want to hurt people.

Cambofrog · 17 May 2008 at 13:06

I think they are good on the whole, but can be misused.

Take the rolleyes smiley for instance ( :rolleyes:

). Put your mouse over that smiley and it indicates "sarcastic", but most people use it as "**** you jerk"

Mr^B · 17 May 2008 at 14:56

semi-pro waster said:
Really chief? Guess you'd better tell Wikipedia. They are abbreviations based on the initial letters of the words in the phrase therefore they are TLAs.

That depends if TLA means "Three Letter Acronym" or "Three Letter Abbreviation".

I guess it's best to not use them isn't it, just for clarities sake?

Talk about missing the point...

:rolleyes:

semi-pro waster · 17 May 2008 at 15:02

Mr^B said:
That depends if TLA means "Three Letter Acronym" or "Three Letter Abbreviation".

I guess it's best to not use them isn't it, just for clarities sake?

Talk about missing the point...

Hahaha, I've missed the point. Excellent.

Have a tip, if you are going to correct someone then make sure you are right, if there is doubt then clarify before jumping in feet first.

Mr^B · 17 May 2008 at 15:08

Have a tip back, if you're going to make a post about how you don't explain things very well, don't be surprised if someone comments that you haven't explained yourself very well.

For the record, wikipedia is itself confused over the subject, look up "TLA" and it says:

"TLA is a three-letter acronym for the phrase three-letter acronym, but it may also refer to:"

This is indeed incorrect, it's a Three Letter Abbreviation (TLA not being reasonably pronounceable).

If your only reference is wikipedia, prepare to be corrected on a lot more points than this.

milkinc13 · 17 May 2008 at 15:13

I like smilies as they give a "human expression" to a comment, if no-one understands what i'm onabout it must be me that feels like that

Tefal · 17 May 2008 at 15:13

but wtf/f t w is a tla then :/

what are you arguing B?

Alex UK · 17 May 2008 at 15:18

Here are some more smilies...

As has been said above, they're useful for conveying tone. The use of a smilie can completely change the meaning of the post.

semi-pro waster · 17 May 2008 at 15:25

Mr^B said:
Have a tip back, if you're going to make a post about how you don't explain things very well, don't be surprised if someone comments that you haven't explained yourself very well.

For the record, wikipedia is itself confused over the subject, look up "TLA" and it says:

"TLA is a three-letter acronym for the phrase three-letter acronym, but it may also refer to:"

This is indeed incorrect, it's a Three Letter Abbreviation (TLA not being reasonably pronounceable).

If your only reference is wikipedia, prepare to be corrected on a lot more points than this.

You didn't check whether I intended it as a three letter acronym or abbreviation before weighing in and telling me I was wrong. Not a particularly good way of getting your point across but that is of course up to you.

I use Wikipedia because it is easy to access by anyone and more often than not is correct. If you don't like the source then feel free to find another.

Sonea Fifer · 17 May 2008 at 16:27