Fanpop Users An Explanation For The Dummies ...Please!

Cammie posted on Nov 23, 2008 at 04:55AM
I realize that by even contemplating writing this forum that I am setting myself up in a BIG way to be riduculed by my fanpopping friends, and becoming the laughing stock of many.
However, being an older user I'm not too wise to some of the lingo and text speech of the young users. My 19-year-old daughter was using LOL and OMG (when texting me) for months before I knew what she was talking about.
I remember in particular a few months ago Kathiria82 making comments on my quizzes which only consisted of LMAO. Amazondebs likes to use ROFL a lot. I thought to myself when reading these "comments" WTF? Yes, I know what that one means,lol.
My daughter explained to mean what LMAO and ROFL meant and then added some smart-arse remark that I shouldn't go on young people's fansites if I couldn't communicate "properly!"
Maybe so, but I enjoy Fanpop so instead I'm going to ask for some help. The following are a puzzle to me, so I'm hoping some people can set me straight on what they mean:

:D - Claire left this when giving me a prop the other day. I assume it's not bad since a prop accompanied it but what does it mean?

:) - this is the only "comment" ineedcoffee made on a pick a few hours ago...very bizarre to me!

P: - this one I see all the time all over the place, but have NO damn clue what it means?

Oooh, I am so confused at times! *hides in shame*
last edited on Nov 23, 2008 at 05:05AM

Fanpop Users 26 replies

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over a year ago hellgirl223 said…
Oh really?

:D- means its a happy face showing your teeth, or just really happy. The eyes are the two dots and the 'D' part is the mouth.

:)- means its a happy smiling face. The eyes are the two dots and the ')' is the smiling face

You mean :P or P:? Because for sure I know :P means the face is sticking out the tongue. The two dots are the eyes (again..) and the 'P' is the mouth sticking out its tongue.

I hope you get what I mean. You'll get use to it. Feel free to ask if you need help^^
over a year ago Cammie said…
awww, thank you so much for that BUT I think I'm even more confused now. I'm not digging these dots representing eye business and D is supposed to be symbolic of a mouth?
Maybe my daughter was right ... I should probably go search for a geriatric website where I can fit in more comfortably.
over a year ago Snerkie said…
lmao, aww Cammie...yes the : mean eyes in relation to smilies. Turn your head to the left and you'll see it better with them, lol.
over a year ago ineedcoffee said…
and cammie if you see the letter 3 with < in front it is a heart <3 again turn your head, i know confusing but there are stuff I don't know either I only know this because of my niece...lol
over a year ago hellgirl223 said…
Yup. What Snerkie and ineedcofee said. Most of the smileys and textspeak with symbols, You gotta turn your head to the left.. Or turn your laptop upright... I'll go with the head turning on that one.. And, Youre welcome =3
over a year ago Cammie said…
Ok, I admit right here ... I must be a REAL dummy!
The turning the head advice has really thrown me. And hellgirl, I have a computer monitor (it's big and heavy) I don't think I could turn it if tried.
I just don't see the head-turnin' connection in relation to this. I give up *goes off for a smoke*

over a year ago Snerkie said…
well if you turn your head to the left it looks like a happy face :D turn your head to the right for the heart <3 you'll figure it out one day cammie
over a year ago IsisRain said…
On my profile page I put an icon showing the smiley faces and heart right side up. Hope it helps :)
over a year ago germany123 said…
also what people dont do anymore..is the nose. so you know how - tilt your head cammie- this looks like a face!?

:-)

and now the face is winking

;-)

and now the face is laughing

:-D


when you enter these in meebo chat you will automatically get a graphic version of the faces that might help as a translator!

also to REALLY confuse you look at this endless list of asian and western emoticons
link
over a year ago Cammie said…
Oh wow, thanks guys. Andddddd yes, I finally DO understand. When Snerkie first wrote "turn your head to the left" I must admit I didn't realize she meant it literally, lol. I just didn't see how in the heck :D could possibly represent a smile. Must admit I have never used the smileys in my mobile either so I was not familiar with what they stood for.
Although this was not a do or die situation, I was becoming very annoyed with myself that I never understood what users were saying at the end of their comments. No one likes to feel dumb, right?
So AGAIN thank you to all you guys that have helped here. In particular:

germany123 - thanks gemmy for putting that link up, I'll be sure to study that in depth.

IsisRain - a very special thanks for personally emailing me with a list of the smileys decriptions, you're a special lady.

I'm just grateful that no one actually added this at the end of their comments X-(

See I am learning, <3
last edited over a year ago
over a year ago hellgirl223 said…
Aw thats nice 4 u Cammie. U'll get it some day <3 Im sure you will and you are NOT a dummy! Oh well, have a nice day.... >_<~! ^W^
over a year ago ineedcoffee said…
wow I didn't know there were that many!
over a year ago pollyloveshouse said…
(>'.')>=O____l_*__O=<('.'<) <-- Playing Ping pong!!

Serious;y... who works out all these?!

I'm glad you got your answers Cammie =D
over a year ago hm94991 said…
--^--@ --check out my rose.
and it's for YOU Cammie. }:)
over a year ago Cammie said…
Awww, thank you, hm94991 <3
over a year ago harold said…
Just a little history, to show how old I am, too:

These were originally called "emoticons" and were created in the 80s by FidoNet and other chat BBS users, because users found that it was difficult for people sitting at a terminal to understand irony or when a user was kidding. Emoticons were added to indicate that the user was making a joke, rather than being serious. "J/K" (for "just kidding") also came into use around the same time. That way, a person could rib their friends in an interchange like:

boo: did you see the latest episode of knight rider?
kink22: yeah.
boo: and?
kink22: i was surprised. i always thought knight rider was about guys on horses.
boo: ...
boo: and i always knew you were an idiot.
boo: :)

"Flame wars" (in which users get angry at imagined slights and spend an inordinate amount of time attacking each other in text) are bad enough as it is; emoticons are a great way to diffuse some of that tension.

Of course, nowadays they're used by themselves, not just as punctuation for other text. But these days I don't have to walk uphill through the snow to get to work for a dime a day, so that I can save up for either a new car or a replacement for my huge 12" B&W TV set, either. Ah, those were the days...
over a year ago Cammie said…
I like the example you used with boo and kink (awesome names btw, lol).
Yes, Harold, what you stated is very true. For it is sometimes hard to detect irony or sarcasm when one cannot canNOT hear tone or see facial expression.
It's just that there is so many of these emoticons
that it's mind boggling - to be anyway.
What I was finding hard was when,for example, I make a comment that consisted of 500 words (Harold and I find it hard to comment in 250 words or less!) and I user would come along and "comment" with a mere :P.
Couldn't grasp that for the life of me, lol.
over a year ago hellgirl223 said…
LOL @ the example Harold! >_O~! >=3
over a year ago amazondebs said…
*giggles at phallic shapped emocion ^*

don't worry cammie it took me ages to grasp the anime looking one, i think i even created a forum similar to this asking what they meant.......i'm such a disgrace to teenagers

another awesome one, vampire

:F or }:[
over a year ago germany123 said…
ah yes debs where the wonky boob started o.O
good times.....
over a year ago harold said…
250 words???! I recoil in horror, struck so speechless that...that...that I will actually stop at less than 250 words, unable to say anything more!
over a year ago Cammie said…
Lol, Harold <3
over a year ago hellgirl223 said…
For me, >_O actually means a perv.. I dont know y.. *glares at john*
over a year ago l3371 said…
Nice theatrical,Harold!XD(Wait.no one went over that...that means something is very funny...)And Cammie? Thanks for assuring me that I'm not alone.^^It was a month before I knew what ROTFL meant,and it drove me nuts....
over a year ago hellgirl223 said…
I got more but theyre usually anime..

T_T= Crying Face
^_^=Happy Face
>_<= I dont know what face this is..
O_O= Eyes Wide
over a year ago babybell said…
>_< is like angry, kinda upset.