你是一個表情符號的熱衷者嗎?你的短信、qq、msn和email聊天中常常使用各種表情嗎?今天我們要講的詞是emoticon。是不是覺得這個詞的構(gòu)成有幾分奇怪，幾分眼熟?沒錯啦，其實它是emotion (or emote)和icon組成的混合詞。An emoticon is a symbol or combination of symbols to convey emotional content in written or message form. 就是說，我們可以把emotion叫做“表情符號”或者“表情符”，也就是把一些字母和符號放在一起做成的表情效果。

比如我們在電子郵件和短信當(dāng)中經(jīng)常用到的微笑表情smiley faces，或者嘴角下彎的沮喪表情，都是用引號、分號和括號這樣的符號組成的。

Common Examples:

Icon Meaning Icon Meaning Icon Meaning

:-) smile, happy

:-( sad, depressed

;-) wink

:-D big grin

:-P tongue out, happy, or being silly

:-* kiss

:-O surprised

:-/ uncertain

:-| waiting, indifferent

=] smile, happy

=[ sadness, depressed

=O shocked

:@ angry

:-S or

:-? confused

a: a-hole

接下來，我們看段兩個人有關(guān)表情符號的對話。

A: You know I always find it difficult to really express my emotions when I'm sending an instant message.

B: Well, why don't you use those emoticons more?

A: I could, yes, but I'm never really sure if they show the right emotion that I want to express.

B: Well, there are quite a lot of emoticons you can use: happy, sad, feeling mad! They express a lot of emotions.

A: Ok then, I'll have a go!

表情符號非常豐富，它們足以表達(dá)我們生活中的各種情緒。There's quite a bit of variety and you can express your emotions quite clearly, it's nearly as good as talking to them for real! 多多使用表情符號，讓我們的生活充滿更多色彩，更多歡樂!