To some, an email isn't complete without the inclusion of :-) or
:-(. To others, the very idea of using "emoticons" -
communicative graphics - makes the blood boil and represents all
that has gone wrong with the English language. Regardless of
your view, as emoticons celebrate their 30th anniversary this
month, it is accepted that they are here stay. Their birth can
be traced to the precise minute: 11:44am on 19 September 1982.
At that moment, Professor Scott Fahlman, of Carnegie Mellon
University in Pittsburgh, sent an email on an online electronic
bulletin board that included the first use of the sideways
smiley face: "I propose the following character sequence for
joke markers: :-) Read it sideways." More than anyone, he must
take the credit - or the blame. The aim was simple: to allow
those who posted on the university's bulletin board to
distinguish between those attempting to write humorous emails
and those who weren't. Professor Fahlman had seen how simple
jokes were often misunderstood and attempted t