Your Internet Consultant - The FAQs of Life Online

11.1. What's :-) mean?

Ah, this is the dreaded "smiley," or "emoticon". Tilt your head 90 degrees to the left and that random jumble of punctuation will look like a smiling face. Isn't that cuuute? Smileys in all shapes and sizes are frequently used to denote a variety of emotions. Here are just a few. Rest assured that there are thousands of other possibilities. 
:-)  your basic smile, denoting happiness or sarcasm
:)   also a smile
;-)  wink
:-D  laughing
:-P  plbbbt!
:-}  grin
:-(  frown
8-)  wide-eyed
B-)  wearing glasses
:-X  close mouthed

Note: O'Reilly & Associates has published an entire book of smileys, entitled (appropriately enough) "Smileys." If you need such a book to be a complete person, you can find it listed in the book list in Appendix C, "The Internet Offline: Books and Magazines."

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