It's Been Way Too Long...

And I figured I'd better get one more post on here before the craziness of school sets in. So here's a post as the craziness of the end of summer is still raging. :) I started writing this post a while ago, but never got around to finishing it. This is the best I could do with it at the moment, but maybe in coming months I'll give it some more thought and make it better.

Analysis of the Smiley: Why I Use the Emoticon

(I use it in nearly every sentence on gmail chat, and almost as often in emails... but I'm better at catching myself when I have more time to think.)

to soften a blow: You're ridiculous :)
to show that I'm being sarcastic: That's definitely on my top 15... :)
to show that I'm happy: yay :)
to declare victory or triumph: jinx 12345678910 HAHAHA! :)
to indicate curiosity: I wouldn't mind... :)
to reduce possible offense: Actually, no. :)
to be smug: Told you so. :)
to be coy: So there's this boy who I know, and he's pretty cute. :)


They're useful, and I'm sure there are more reasons I use them that I have yet to discover. "Picture" -- take a backseat. Now the smiley is worth a thousand words.

Along with the smiley are my frequently used ellipses... though I read somewhere recently that I shouldn't just do three periods in a row. Oops. How dare I offend an editor's eyes while chatting quickly with a friend on gmail. :) There's the smiley again, I just can't get away from it. Ellipses indicate a lot too -- voice trailing off, showing interest, telling the reader to make their own conclusion, etc. It's good to know how to write conversationally, and then people understand you better. That's why I also write in contractions a lot.