Online Emoticons Kids Use Online:

Today with instant messaging and chat communications taking up an ever-growing portion of our children's and teams online experience.

And many kids have taken to using Emoticons as a way of expressing emotion and feelings in their textbased communications.

The additional advantage is that chat abbreviations and "Emoticons" owner a kind of shorthand that allows teenagers to text more rapidly back and forth.

As a parent it's a good idea for you to keep current with the text and acronyms and language your child is using online.

Here's a brief glossary of the most commonly used in Emoticons that you are likely to see online.

• @>--,--- = A rose

• :-() = Big mouth (User has rambled on)

• :-( = Frowning

• (( )):** = Hugs and kisses

• *<:-)( = I'm Santa Claus

• :-D = Laughing

• :-* = Puckering for a kiss

• :**: = Returning kiss

• :-o = Shouting

• :) = Smiling

• :-) = Smiling, with a nose

• 1^o = Snoring

• >:-( = Upset or annoyed

• :-ss = User drools

• :-{ = User has a moustache

• %-) = User has been staring at a green screen for 15 hrs

• :'-( = User is crying

• :-@ = User is screaming

• :'-) = User is so happy s/he is crying

• :-7 = User just made a wry statement

• :-x = User's lips are sealed

• {(:-) = Wearing a toupee

• B-) = Wearing cool shades

• 8-) = Wearing glasses

• ;-) = Winking

for a more comprehensive list of key online and acronyms your child is using right now, please visit Teen Chat Decoder.com

This free online service allows parents to type in an acronym they may have seen in their child's text messages and instantly discover the meaning and definition of that an acronym.