Scientists have been debating an important question: should you put a nose in your smiley, like this?

Or should you forgo the nose, and have your smileys look like this. :)

Smiley scientists have divided into two schools of thought here: the Nosey Smilers and the Noseless Smilers.

There is vigorous debate between these two schools, with many subtleties emerging in their debate:


  • Some Noseless Smilers reject hyphenated noses, but are somehow ok with Big Noses. :O)
  • Other Smilers are less focused on the nose, and more on the mouth.  These smilers reject the parenthesis-smile and replace it with an alternative like a tongue. :p
  • A splinter group of Smilers disdain the use of a semi-colon for the eyes, and prefer an equal sign instead. =)  This is a source of great controversy in the smiley community.
  • Please note that =-) is not a commonly accepted option.  Most Nosey Smilers and Noseless Smilers agree that equal signs and hyphens can NOT be combined in a smiley.  This is a rare point of agreement in an otherwise controversial field.
  • Some smileys just look best with a Nose. :-/  Without a nose, that would look ridiculous. :/

Do you put a nose in your smiley?

Or do you skip the nose and go straight from the eyes to the smile. :)