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 winking

B-) has sunglasses

:-o surprise

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