Smiley

Using ascii characters to represent a face or emotion. Smileys

are ususlly used in email messages or in chat.

Some basic examples:

:) is a smile

:( is a frown

:P has a lolling tongue

;) is wiking

B) has sunglasses

:-) has a nose

...there are a lot of possibilities, people are very good at interpreting pictures as faces. See Ascii Art, maybe Electronic communications, Emote, or Emoticon.