Birthday «Smiley» (19/09)

Every year on September 19th there is an unusual holiday — Birthday of a friendly electronic symbol — Birthday «Smiley».

September 19, 1982 Carnegie Mellon University professor Scott E. Fahlman) first proposed using three characters running in a row — colon, hyphen and closing parenthesis to represent the «smiling face» in text typed on a computer. This was a serious addition to the electronic vocabulary.

History has preserved the very letter that Falman sent to the local bulletin board, which was the prototype for today's forums and at that time was the main means of communication between university staff.

Here is his letter: «19-Sep-82 11:44 Scott E Fahlman (-) From: Scott E Fahlman I pose that the following character sequence for joke markers: (-) Read it sideways.

Actually, it is probably more economic to mark things that are NOT jokes, given current trends. For this, use :-(».

The historical report was preceded by a long discussion in which participants discussed what symbols should be used to show that the message was humorous. It must be said that the message in which «smiley» was first used was found only in 2002, in the archives of the bulletin board, which were preserved on film.

Several enthusiasts took part in the «digital archaeological excavations», which were organized solely with the aim of finding this message and thereby determining the date of birth of the « emoticon».

Over the years of its existence, «smiley» has become an invariable attribute of electronic communication, and many can no longer imagine how they could do without it. And, of course, during this time many « emoticons » appeared, carrying different semantic and emotional connotations.

Today, «smiley» has become an invariable attribute of electronic communication (Photo: Aleks - Vector, licensed from Shutterstock.com)

«Smiley» replaces what is missing in communication via chat or email — voice intonation and facial expressions. «Smileys» help you better understand your interlocutor, capture his mood, in the end, they are just funny and evoke positive emotions.

Let us remind you that World Smile Day is celebrated in early October, and every year July 17 is World Emoji Day.



Postcard «September 19 — Birthday "Smiley"»

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