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1/25/2003

I’m sure you’re all familiar with emoticons, those textual versions of happy and frowny faces (e.g., :-), ;-), :-(, etc.)

Apparently, the Japanese also have these. Because of the nature of their alphabet and the way computers encode their alphabet, they can fit more characters into the same space. This allows for tremendous variations on emoticons including ones that represent “get angry inwardly,” “deny strongly,” and “sorry, please take care of that affair for me.” Kind of makes 😛 (“sticking out tongue”) look pathetic.