Another important part of IRC is the "smiley" also known as an "emoticon". Unlike MSN and certain other chat clients, IRC Is a text base medium and mIRC supports text - therefore, the smileys are made out of text and can be a little more cryptic than IM (Instant Messaging) clients. The best idea if you don't understand a smiley is to put your head to one side and try and work it out.
Smileys are made out of the keys on the keyboard, mostly done with the grammar keys (i.e. ;, :, (, ), etc.). Some of them are very simple, which are the ones you're most likely to come across, and some are a little more elaborate and use 'ASCII' text to add eyebrows and other features on to the face.
Below is a list of smileys you are likely to come across on IRC, and also what the person who uses them is trying to convey to you!
| Smiley | Description |
| :) | Smile/Happy. (May also see as ':>') |
| :( | Sad/Unhappy. (May also see as ':<') |
| :| | Neutral/Blank/Stare. |
| >:( | Angry. |
| ;/ | Annoyed. (also ;\) |
| :p | Sticky out tongue/Cheekey. |
| :D | Very happy/Laughing. |
| >:D | Evil laugh. |
| ;) | Wink. |
| :S | Confused/Mistaken/Whoops! |
| :/ | Skeptical/Perturbed. (Also ':\') |
| :'( | Crying. |
These are a list of smileys you may not see so much on IRC, but probably will do some day. Worth noting what they mean:
| Smiley | Description |
| :)~ | Drooling. |
| 8) | Wearing glasses. |
| d:) | Smiley face wearing a hat. |
| :x | Secret/Not telling. |
| :o | Shocked/Surprised. |
| O:) | Angel smiley. ('O' may be coloured yellow to symbolise halo) |
| |-) | Sleeping/Eyes closed. |
| >< | Mad/Angry. (Think 'Cartman' from South Park) |
As you can see, there are a number of emoticons to be used to display what you are feeling. It's good to use them as it can be hard to describe exactly what you're trying to say (or rather HOW you say it) without an emoticon or two. At the same time, it's also hard to interpret what people are getting across to you if you don't understand what these strange little things are at the end of their sentences.
You may find that you see someone type a smiley and it isn't listed here - just remember to look at it sideways and think of what it could be, it's usually easy to figure out :)
