Emoticons

Due to the internet and with the help of social media, a lot of general western emoticons are commonly used, for example :), :(, ;) and so on. This section will focus on emoticons that either originated in Korea (or Asia) or that require Korean characters to make. A lot of Korean emoticons are vertical in nature, instead of horizontal like

Face construction

• Eyes. There are many characters that can be used as eyes, but here are a few common examples:
  • ^^ - Happy eyes
  • ㅡㅡ, -- - shut eyes
  • ㅇㅇ, OO - open eyes
  • >< - squinting (frustrated) eyes
• Nose. Noses aren't commonly added, but here are a few examples:
  • ㅅ (animal like nose, think of a dog or cat)
• Mouth. There are many characters that can be used as eyes, but here are a few common examples:
  • _ closed mouth
  • .
  • 0 - big open mouth

Emoticons

Emoticon(s)	Meaning	Variations
*_____*	A stale face; used to express disappointment, boredom, or to indicate something was lame or unfunny.
^^	Happy face (cheerful eyes).	^_^ ^.^ ^0^ - ? ^ㅁ^ - ? ^ㅂ^ - ? *^^* - blushing
^_~	A winking face. The typical ;) is also used and is more common.
ㅡ_ㅡ	Speechless or not amused Used when someone says something stupid, offensive, or annoying. Sometimes it's like saying "are you serious?"	-_-
ㅜㅜ / ㅠㅠ	Tears	Some people just put one character instead of two: ㅜ ㅠ Multiple tears means more sadness: ㅜㅜㅜㅜㅜ ㅠㅠㅠㅠ
;	The semicolon is supposed to represent sweat and used to indicate embarrassment, awkwardness or disappointment. ^^;;, 말도 안 되는 소리 하지 마;;; (Don't talk non-sense)	^^; The more semicolons, the more the person feels embarrassed. ^^;;;;
@.@	Confusion
•ㅅ•	ㅅ is supposed to be like an animal nose (think dog or cat) and makes it more cute. Meaning: ?	ㅇㅅㅇ ㅎㅅㅎ
~.~	I'm not sure (모르겠음)
?,?	Huh? What the .. ? (오잉?)
!_!	Ah-ha! (아하!)
+_+	?
-ㅅ-a	Scratching one's head.
'ㅅ'b	Thumbs up, where b is the hand.
ㅗ	The middle finger, flipping someone off.	'ㅅ'ㅗ The more ㅗ you see, the angry the person is: ㅗㅗㅗㅗㅗ
OTL	Shape of a person fallen on the floor in representation of a failure or mistake. Another variation is orz i.e., "I forgot my homework OTL" (O - head, T - torso and arms, L - legs)	요TL is someone in a similar position as someone throwing up
▶◀	Used for when someone died (represents black ribbon used in funeral).
ㅋ.ㅋ	?
ㅎ.ㅎ	?
ㅃ.ㅃ	?