johnthurlow.com

Smileys 

Smileys (also called emoticons) are a way of trying to convey the little emotional touches in your written communications on the Internet that you get from people's facial expressions in face-to-face conversations.
 

:-)

Your basic Smiley -- colon, dash, right paren

;-)

Winky -- semi-colon, dash, right paren

'-)

Alternate Winky -- single quote, dash, right paren

:-(

Frowny -- colon, dash, left paren

:-c

Down in the Mouth -- colon, dash, lowercase "c"

:->

Happy -- colon, dash, right angle bracket

;->

Winky & Happy, equivalent of a lewd remark -- semi-colon, dash, right angle bracket

:-|

Blah -- colon, dash, vertical line

<:-o

Eeek -- left angle bracket, colon, dash, lowercase "o"

:-x

Kisses -- colon, dash, lowercase "x"

8-)

Wide-eyed Look -- number "8", dash, right paren

:-!

Bronx Cheer -- colon, dash, exclamation point

^5

High Five -- shift and number "6", then number "5" (not really a smiley, but a quick way to add a note of excitement, just like a high five in the physical world)