Neil: In Real English, we look at words and phrases that you might not find in your dictionary.

Feifei: 英语是一种十分程式化的语言，所以了解现实生活中人们经常使用的固定表达和俚语自然就很有用了。

Neil: Today's word is emoticon.

Feifei: What?

Neil: Emoticon.

Feifei: Don't know what that is.

Neil: Oh yes you do Feifei. Let’s look at the current definition. An emoticon is a symbol or combination of symbols to convey emotional content in written or message form.

Feifei: Well, I'm still not sure. Emoticon 我们可以叫它“表情符号”或者“表情符”，就是把一些字母和符号放在一起做成的表情效果。比如说我们在电子邮件和短信当中经常用到的微笑表情 smiley faces, 或者嘴角下弯的沮丧表情，都是用引号、分号和括号这样的符号而组成的。 Are we talking about smiley faces Neil?

Neil: Yes, we're talking about the little yellow faces we can send in emails and instant messaging systems that express our emotions – we call those emoticons.

Feifei: It's not just smiley faces though is it Neil?

Neil: No, you can use brackets¹.

Feifei: 括号。

Neil: Dashes.

Feifei: 破折号。

Neil: And colons².

Feifei: 冒号。

Neil: To make smiley or sad faces. These are also emoticons.

Feifei: 让我们听听下面这两个人对有关表情符号所作的对话。

Example

A: You know I always find it difficult to really express my emotions when I’m sending an instant message.

B: Well, why don’t you use those emoticons more?

A: I could, yes, but I'm never really sure if they show the right emotion that I want to express.

B: Well, there are quite a lot of emoticons you can use: happy, sad, feeling mad! They express a lot of emotions.

A: Ok then, I'll have a go!

Neil: So Feifei, are you a fan of the emoticon?

Feifei: Yes, I like them actually. There's quite a bit of variety and you can express your emotions quite clearly when you are messaging someone, it’s nearly as good as talking to them for real!

Neil: Well, I wouldn't say that – there's no way you can express your emotions in an emoticon Feifei!

Feifei:

Feifei: No, I disagree, I think they're great!

Neil: Well, we can't spend any more time arguing – join us soon for more Real English.

Feifei: Bye.