A variation on the :) emoticon. Other examples of smileys are ;) (winking smiley) :-) (smiley with nose) ;-) (winking smiley with nose) =-) (smiley with nose variant) 8) (smiley with glasses) 8] (robot smiley)

The shape that gets left behind when you burn yourself with a cheap cigarette lighter. Not by holding the flame up to your flesh, but by leaving the lighter lit for a couple minutes, and then pressing the wheels and the front part against your skin for a while.

While some people might use this as a cheap alternative to getting a smiley-face tattoo, if you're only interested in minor self-mutilation, you might want to avoid touching the wheels to your skin, because it's pretty embarassing to see the end result of all your angst/depression/whatever offering you a great big grin every time you look at it. The only friend I showed my =) to laughs uncontrollably each time she sees it.

The =) smiley is actually a far superior smiley than the :-) or :) smiley. The reason behind this is in the eyes. Rather than two measly dots, the =) smiley has two big happy looking eyes. Those eyes provide much more surface area for light to hit, and reflect onto the =) smiley's retinas, allowing it to have clearer vision compared to the rival smileys. Plus, for the typist, it is also very easy to type!

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