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The secret language of Japanese emoticons ...
It seems that not a day goes by lately when you don't receive some sort of communication - be it e-mail or text - where someone tries to convey their pleasure or displeasure with an emoticon. You know, :) for the good, :( for the bad. You could say this is somewhat of an international language. While I have yet to figure out a way to say "what would you like me to pick up from the grocery store on the way home?" with an emoticon, it seems there's one for everything else I might need to say. :O is shock. ;) is me being coy. (ToT) is me crying. Wait, what? Yes! Look at it right side up. The horizontal tops of the Ts are the eyes, the vertical stems are the tears. The o in the middle is the mouth. This is what's called kaomoji, or Japanese emoticons. ( ^ _ ^ ) is a happy face. (>_<)> or (^_^;) can mean troubled. m(_ _)m is the apologetic kaomoji, representing someone bowing in apology. (The influence on the construction of many of these kaomoji comes from how faces are drawn in popular Japanese cartoons, or anime.) The use of kaomoji in Japanese communications is as pervasive as the use of emoticons is in the Western world. Kaomoji became so popular, in fact, that they even warranted their own line of merchandise, called kaomoji-kun (-kun is a Japanese suffix similar to -san, meaning Mr. or Ms., but used to address younger people). These emoticons shouldn't be confused with emoji, which are coded graphic symbols, or icons, used primarily in text messages. Just remember: like emoticons in the West, kaomoji and emoji are to be reserved for the most casual correspondance. Best not use them with your boss, or else you might end up using just one kaomoji: m(_ _)m. Find more kaomaji here and here. Some emoji can be found here. Tags: emoji, Japanese emoticons, kaomoji, newsletter
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