BBC Learning English
The English We Speak
6 November 2012
Emoticon

The English We Speak

© British Broadcasting Corporation 2012

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bbclearningenglish.com

(Vera bursts into the studio – she is not happy – sound of door opening abruptly)

Rob:

What’s happened Vera? You don’t look very happy.

Vera:

Of course I’m not happy. I’ve just read the email you sent saying if I don’t

come to the studio soon you are going to present the programme by

yourself…

Rob:

That’s right.

Vera:

And then you wrote: “With my beautiful voice, nobody will miss yours.”

That’s a horrible thing to say, Rob!

Rob: Well, it would be horrible if it was a serious message. But haven’t you

noticed my emoticon at the end of the message?

Vera:

Emoticon? I have the message printed out here… Yes, I can see here in the

email that you typed a colon, followed by a hyphen and a closing bracket.

And when I look at it sideways I can see… a smiley face… :-)

It’s an emoticon! It was a joke after all!

Rob:

Yes. Emoticons were created precisely for this purpose, to avoid

misunderstandings like the one we’ve just had. I wrote my message as a

joke and you took it seriously.

Vera:

I read recently that emoticons were created 30 years ago by a professor at

Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh. Emoticon is a combination of the

words 'emotional' and 'icon'.

Rob:

And indicates if a message is serious or a joke. When you speak, you can

express if you're serious about what you are saying but sometimes it is

difficult to achieve that on paper. Listen to some verbal examples.

Examples

(angry) “I don’t like going to the cinema with you. You always fall asleep and end up

snoring loudly.”

(jokingly) “I don’t like going to the cinema with you. You always fall asleep and end up

snoring loudly!”

Vera:

When you say something, you can convey the spirit with the tone of your

voice. But sometimes it is not clear when it is written.

The English We Speak

© British Broadcasting Corporation 2012

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bbclearningenglish.com

Rob:

But it’s good to point out that emoticons are still an informal sort of

message. It might not look good if you use them in a message to your boss

or include them in your CV.

Vera:

That’s indeed a good thing to keep in mind. We should be careful when

using emoticons.

Rob:

Emoticons have become so popular that there are over a hundred of them.

Some with a proper round yellow face.

Vera:

Now that our misunderstanding has been sorted out, we should go out and

celebrate! The 30th anniversary of the emoticon is a good excuse for some

coffee and cake.

Rob:

And let’s celebrate our friendship too. A friendship saved by an emoticon –

a smiley face in fact. Bye.

Vera:

Bye.

Rob:

And Vera, your voice is very beautiful, by the way.

Vera:

And so is yours, Rob. You should be a singer.

Rob:

And so should you, Vera. Your voice is so melodic…

Vera/Rob: (sing together)

Rob:

Beautiful!