Korean Emoticons

Korea has a set of additional emoticons that they frequently use, which are both cute and confusing. The short list below are from the blog bruyng. The brackets used in the emoticons below are often omitted, so a smily face could look like this (^_^) or this ^_^ .

(^_^) = smile

(^o^) = laughing out loud

d(^_^)b = thumbs up (not ears)

(T_T) = sad (it's a crying face)

(-.-)Zzz = sleeping

(Z.Z) = sleepy person

\(^_^)/ = cheers, hurrah

(*^^*) = shyness

(-_-); = sweating (as in ashamed)

(^_^);; = sorry! my mistake

(?_?) = nonsense, i don't know

(^_~) = wink

(o.O) = surprise

v(^_^)v = victory

(>^_^)> = hugging

(>^_^)> <(^_^<) = hugging each other (^o^)

Koreans have also started to use the Korean Hangeul characters to form emoticons. So the crying face could look like this (T_T) or this ㅜㅜ -- what you are seeing are two closed eyes with tears running down. The symbol ㅋ is also sometimes used, like ㅋㅋㅋ. This is a short hand for 크크크, which is pronounced "ke-ke-ke" and is basically an onomatopoeie for chuckling and has a similar meaning to LOL.

What I find interesting is how regularly these emoticons and shorthands are used in general writing, outside of the digital context (i.e. not in a text message or online). I often encounter them on my students' assignments and tests. Especially, ㅜㅜ.