Emoticons Advanced

NEWS LESSONS / Emoticons, emails and letter writing / Advanced•P

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E© Macmillan Publishers Ltd 2007

Tick the boxes that are correct for you and compare your answers with a partner.

Ioftenuseemoticonsinmyelectroniccommunication.

Emoticonsareusefulforconveyinghowthewriterfeels.

Emoticonsareusefulinchatrooms,whenwritingpersonalemailsandwhensendingtextmessages.

Peoplewhouseemoticonsaren’tserious.

Idislikeemoticons.

Whatareemoticons?

Emoticons, emails and letter writing Level 3 Advanced

Pre-reading 11

Pre-reading 22

Match these emoticons, and the expressions from the article, with their meanings.

}:-( I’mwearingglasses

;-) I’mundecided

8-) I’mmarried

0:-) Yourtoupeeisblowinginthewind

:-)(-: I’monlyjoking!

:-\ Thewriterjustmadeasweetorinnocentremark

1.up to scratch a.wastenotimeonunnecessarymatters

2.risk unintentional pain and embarrassment b.needforsomethingtomakeitallbetterandeasier

3.no pause for revision c.goodenough/reachestheexpectations 4.to crave the soothing balm of… d.thereisadangerofhurtingsomeoneormaking yourselflooklikeafool

5.get straight down to business e.nocheckingorcorrecting

ü


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Emoticons, emails and letter writing Simon JenkinsSeptember 21, 2007Have emails made us into unemotionalmachines?

Theemoticonis25yearsold.In1982,aPittsburghprofessor,ScottFahlman,notedthattheelectronicmailofhisstudentslackedthenecessarybodylanguageandvoicetonestoexpressgreetingsandhumour.Thesmileywasborn,andwithitalargelexiconofsymbolsintendedtoinsertnormalhumanemotionintothe frigid alphabet. A–Z might have sufficed for Shakespeare,Milton,KeatsandShelley,butfortoday’sglobalnerditisnotuptoscratch.

Earlytelegraphyhaditsownshortformsandicons.Usersrealizedthatabbreviatedlanguageriskedunintentionalpainandembarrassment.Henceanapparentlysarcasticorabruptremarkmightbesoftenedbyasimplesymbol.Theresultwasnotjustsmileysbutfrowniesandvarioussignsofperplexity,love,angerandsurprise.

Thereare16pagesofemoticonsinAndrewJohn’sTxtr’s A–Z–myfavouritebeing}:-(for‘yourtoupeeisblowinginthewind’.Anindicationofthekeyboard’sevolutionisthatmanycomputersautomaticallyconvertthefrownieinto.Inotherwords,andhavebecomeformalsymbolsintheInternetlexicon.

Iconfesstoseeingtheproblem.IhaveseldomsentapersonalemailortextmessagewhichIhavenotafterwards,tosomedegree,regretted.Theold-fashionedpenslowedthetransitionfromspokenword(andintendedmeaning)toscript.Itgavetimeforconsideration,asdidthemanualtypewriter.Writinginvolvedeffort.Awordwasponderedbeforebeingputtopaper,packagedandsentthroughthepost.

Incomparison,thecomputerkeyboardisaninvisiblepianoonwhichweplayinstantlyandextempore.Firstthoughtsraceintofully-formed

wordsandsentenceswithnopauseforrevision,letaloneperfection.Assoonastheyareonscreentheyacquirevalidity.Overthemhoversthedreadedsendbutton,itchingtobepressed–‘send’isalwayspressedtoosoon.

Thereisnowaitfortheposttogo,notimetocorrectwhatiswritten.Noristhereanycertaintythatanemailhasarrived,justtheplaintivecall:“Didyougetmyemail...whydidn’tyoureply?”Allisthenregret.Ishouldhavereaditthroughonemoretime.Hardlysurprisingthenthatwecravethesoothingbalmoftheemoticon.

Howonearthdidwemanagebefore?Somehowwecommunicatedlove,hurt,remorse,angerandjoyunderthebountifulguidanceoftheOxford English Dictionary.Weusedquill,pen,pencil,ballpoint,eventypewriter,andifanythingwentwrongwehadthetelephoneasbackup.Butwhyisemailsolackinginfeelingthatitrequiresitsownadditionalalphabet?HowmuchsincerityreallyisconveyedbyJ?

Theauthorsofabookon‘netiquette’comestraighttothepoint:“Onemailpeoplearen’tquitethemselves...theyareangrier,lesssympathetic,lessaware,moreeasilywounded,evenmoregossipyandduplicitous.”Somehaveevenwreckedtheirmarriages,losttheirjobsandendedupinjail.

Manyofusdonotknowhowtohandleemail.DowestartDear SirorHi gorgeous,orgetstraightdowntobusiness?Dowecoverthescreenwithcapitals,exclamationmarksandemoticonsinadesperateefforttoconveyattitude?DowesignoffwithYours sincerely,Kind regardsorByeee!?Evensuchsimplewordsasplease,thank youandsorryhaveahundredsubtlemeaningswhen voiced but are toneless when lying flat on thescreen.

Thetruthisthat,forotherthanroutinemessagesandacknowledgements,emailhasbecomeaninadequatesubstituteforboththetelephoneand

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theletter.Comparedtothetelephone,emailisadistancingdevice.Itnotonlyeliminatestoneofvoice,itpreventsinterruptionorresponse.Itisaone-wayconversation,amonologue,withalltherudenessthatcanimply.Comparedtoaletter,emailhasmoreimmediacybutcarriesnoneofthehumanity,nottomentioncourtesy,ofhandwriting.

Emailsoughttocarryahealthwarningatthetop:‘Thisnotemayunintentionallymisleadorupsetyou;ifindoubtreplybyphoneorconsultacounsellor.’Emailsarebadatconveyinghumourorcriticism,badnewsorsympathy.Theformistoocold.Thosewhowishtocommunicate

sinceritytoanotherhumanbeingshouldtelephoneand,ifnecessary,leaveavoicemessage.

Betterstill,clearyourdesk,takeoutacrispsheetofnotepaper,pickupapenanddosomethingyoumaynothavedoneforages.Writeaproperletter,rewritingitifnecessary.Therecipientwillbeamazedanddelightedthatyouhavetakenthetime.Youwillhavewrittenwhatyoumeanttosay,andIbetyouwon’thaveusedemoticons.

©GuardianNews&Media2007FirstpublishedinThe Guardian,21/9/07


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1. Theemoticonwasinventedby…

a.…thepoet,Milton. b.…auniversityprofessor. c.…anAmericanstudent.

2. Whatareemoticonssupposedtoputintoemails?

a.Painandembarrassment. b.Greetingsandhumour. c.Humanemotion.

3. Theauthorbelievesitisbetterto…

a.…writeslowly. b.…thinkbeforeyousendyouremail. c.…useamanualtypewriter.

4. Accordingtothearticle,manyofus...

a.…takeontoomuchworkthesedays. b.…takeondifferentpersonalitieswhenwe writeemails. c.…alwaysmakefollowupphonecallsafter sendingemails.

5. Thereare…

a.…strictguidelinesonhowtobeginandend anemail. b.…strictrulesaboutusingpunctuationandcapital lettersinemails. c.…amyriadofwaystobeginandendanemail.

6. Theauthorthinksthatemailsare…

a.…notaseffectiveasletters. b.…animprovementonletterwriting. c.…abetterwaytogetholdofsomeonethan bytelephone.


Comprehension check3

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Choose the best answer according to the text.


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Discussion5

1. Match the words on the left with those on the right to make collocations from the text.

abrupt guidance Internet conversation fully-formed meaning plaintive substitute bountiful effort desperate sentence subtle lexicon inadequate remark one-way mislead unintentionally call

2. With a partner, try to put these collocations into sentences. Look back at the article to check your answers and to see the context in which they are used.

Vocabulary: Collocations4

Discuss the following questions in small groups.

Doyouprefertowritelettersorsendemails?Whendidyoulastsendanemail?Whendidyoulastwritealetter?Howmanyemailsdoyousend/receiveperweek?Howmanylettersdoyousend/receiveperweek?Doyouuseemoticonswhenyouwriteemails?Whatdoyouthinkwhenyoureceiveanemailcontainingemoticons?

Webquest6

Have a look at these websites for more information on emoticons. Which emoticons do you like best?

Unusual and funny emoticons:www.angelfire.com/hi/hahakiam/emoticon.html

A-Z of emoticons:www.sharpened.net/glossary/emoticons.php

Emoticons that you’ve probably never seen before:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_common_emoticons


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2 Pre-reading 2

}:-( Yourtoupeeisblowinginthewind;-) I’monlyjoking!8-) I’mwearingglasses0:-) Thewriterjustmadeasweetor innocentremark:-)(-: I’mmarried:-\ I’mundecided

1.c2.d3.e4.b5.a

3 Comprehension check

1.b2.c3.b4.b5.c6.a

4 Vocabulary: Collocations

abruptremarkInternetlexiconfully-formedsentenceplaintivecallbountifulguidancedesperateeffortsubtlemeaninginadequatesubstituteone-wayconversationunintentionallymislead

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Emoticons Advanced