Dot-your-is.docx

Dot your Is, cross your Ts and don’t forget your smileys Smiles and frowns, tears and winks - everybody understands what emoticons mean and how to use them correctly. They are as overused as they are underestimated. Since its first appearance in an e-mail in 1982, the emoticon has become an indispensable tool in informal written language. What is so important about them that we feel the need to populate our messages with these sideways faces? Let’s imagine that we send a message to a friend simply asking what they are doing. Here we have some possible answers: “I’m at work :( ” “I’m at work :) ” “I’m at work >:( ” “I’m at work :| ” All of these have a different underlying meaning and completely different intonation just by the use of a different emoticon. In the first one the speaker is clearly sad to be working, in the second they are happy, in the third frustrated and in the last one bored. Each one of these sentences will lead the conversation in a very different direction, while their emoticon-less counterpart leaves it more open to interpretation. To achieve the same effect, the speaker would have needed to put in a lot more effort, writing longer and more specific statements: “Unfortunately I’m at work now” or “I wish I wasn’t, but I’m at work” or “I’m at work; I really enjoy it here” or “I’m at work and today it’s real quiet so I’m bored”. So we can understand why the emoticons have become so important; they transmit information and meaning that we normally convey in informal conversation through expression and intonation, and crucially, using a lot less effort. Not only are they used to add emotion to messages that haven’t got any in particular, but they can also simply reiterate the emotional value of the message - “I’m so happy you passed :D ” - or even contradict it - “I’m so happy for her :| ”. The range of information they can express is not limited to emotion though. Depending on the context, they can also convey things such as intention, sarcasm and politeness: “I’m home alone ;) ” “At least you’re not bored :P ” “Stop that :) ”

These sentences without the emoticons could be misinterpreted. It is clear, even outside their context, that in the first one the speaker is being flirtatious, the second one is certainly a sarcastic comment and the last one is not a brutal straightforward command but more of a playful plea. But if it seems reasonable to say emoticons have become part of our language, then, from a linguistic point of view, what are they? They are definitely not words. And they can only exist in writing, as they are complementary to real facial expression and intonation. There is only one other part of written language that is not words, and that is punctuation. According to the Encyclopaedia Britannica, punctuation is “the use of spacing, conventional signs, and certain typographical devices as aids to the understanding and the correct reading, both silently and aloud, of handwritten and printed texts.” This definition seems a bit obsolete, as it doesn’t include typed text, but, adding just that, we can easily relate this definition to emoticons. We can definitely say that they are typographical devices and that they definitely aid the understanding and correct reading of a text. They are not necessary, but they are convenient, just as other punctuation is, but to a lesser degree. That voice that we all have in our head when reading a text really does change when you read with the aid of emoticons, and if read aloud a sentence sounds different when smiling or frowning. Having said this, not all emoticon are used as punctuation. Or rather not all punctuation is used as punctuation. Let me explain. It’s common when chatting online to reply a simple “?”, meaning that the message hasn’t been understood, or even “!” meaning that the recipient is surprised. The same can happen for emoticons; replying only by facial expression is very common in face-to-face conversation, the smiley only simulates an already existing occurrence. Professor David Crystal, a renowned linguist and writer, thinks that both emoticons and their evolved relatives, emojis, are not here to stay. He points out to me in our brief exchange that the variety of emoticons used has declined dramatically. Of the over 500 dictionary entries recorded only a fraction has survived last decade’s pruning. :( Perhaps he’s right. But even if they are just temporary trend, right now emoticons are undoubtedly an extremely useful tool fulfilling a unique role of their own in modern informal writing. Their function has led me to think they can be considered punctuation, rather that other definition, pictograms. But as for me, I will never give up a smile :)