translations
Happy emoticons:
:) --> smile
:D --> big smile, with teefs
= may be interchanged for : in eyes, e.g. =D
XD --> laughing really hard
^^ --> content/happy
^-^ --> cute and content/happy
^_^ --> happy and/or smug
the more _s, the more intense the emotion is; ^_________^ is much happier/smugger than ^_^
also, switching from - to _ also denotes more intense emotion; ^_^ is more intense than ^-^
Sad emoticons:
:( --> frown
D: --> the opposite of :D; not to be used in genuinely sad situations because it's somewhat comical. Think of those weird hairy things on Sesame Street.
D8 --> D: with googly eyes
:'( --> crying
;-; --> crying
;_; --> crying harder
;___; --> see above about the underscores
T-T --> crying
T_T --> crying
&c.
Negative emotions that are not sadness:
u.u --> disappointed (looking down)
u_u --> disappointed but more so than u.u (it's basically the same thing with the -/_, except you can't do u-u because that looks like a molecule, not a face)
x.x --> dead. Can also be x_x, X_X, x_X, X_x; each one of these denotes different levels of dead-ness
Neutral emotions:
o.o --> surprise. I'm sure you know the drill by now: o_o, o_O, O_O, O____O, etc
@_@ --> boggled/overwhelmed
:P --> teasing (adding P's can make it more intense; :PPPP)
XP --> teasing harder (or comical disgust)
:3 --> smug
>:3 --> smug and evil
:X --> choked (secrecy, foot-in-mouth, etc)
>> --> shifty eyed, can be used when you're being shifty or when you think something else is stupid/silly or when you're annoyed. I have to do them all the same direction because LJ thinks they're tags, but also >_>, >__>, etc. They can go the other way too.
*-* --> starry eyed
._. --> kind of apathetic in an "uh. what?" way
.-. --> upside down
Awesome things:
\m/ --> metal! OR superMonica with a cape!
lskjf;aksdjg;skdjg --> keyboard mash. Completely context dependent. It's the utmost quantum expression. (sez BCT)
<3 --> ilu
<333 --> ilu more
ilu --> "i love you," but slightly ironic; like "BFF" (or worse, "biffle")
y/n --> yes or no?