Question
When did people begin using emoticons? How do you know?
Responses
around A.D. 63; "For example, in the year A.D. 63, a Roman scholar complained that students of Latin were writing in an 'artificial language.'"
around A.D. 63; "For example, in the year A.D. 63, a Roman scholar complained that students of Latin were writing in an 'artificial language.'" EndFragment
around the 1870s: "Future President Theodore Roosevelt was a student at Harvard in the 1870s. He may have been among those young men being described by Eliot.
around the 1870s: "Future President Theodore Roosevelt was a student at Harvard in the 1870s. He may have been among those young men being described by Eliot.
in 1982; "In a 1982 email, Fahlman suggested using ':-)' as a 'joke marker.' You could type it into an email to indicate which parts were wisecracks or sarcasm.
Responses
around A.D. 63; "For example, in the year A.D. 63, a Roman scholar complained that students of Latin were writing in an 'artificial language.'"
around A.D. 63; "For example, in the year A.D. 63, a Roman scholar complained that students of Latin were writing in an 'artificial language.'" EndFragment
around the 1870s: "Future President Theodore Roosevelt was a student at Harvard in the 1870s. He may have been among those young men being described by Eliot.
around the 1870s: "Future President Theodore Roosevelt was a student at Harvard in the 1870s. He may have been among those young men being described by Eliot.
in 1982; "In a 1982 email, Fahlman suggested using ':-)' as a 'joke marker.' You could type it into an email to indicate which parts were wisecracks or sarcasm.
Answers
GPT-4o mini
Emoticons began to be used around 1982, when computer scientist Scott Fahlman suggested using ":-)" as a "joke marker" in an email. This marked the formal introduction of emoticons as a tool to convey tone in written communication, particularly in digital contexts. Prior to this, there were earlier forms of symbols that conveyed emotion or sentiment, but Fahlman's suggestion is widely recognized as the starting point for the modern use of emoticons.