Yesterday I was having a deep and meaningful IM chat about why smileys are all yellow, when yellow's a crappy, pus-ridden colour almost no one wears or likes. The only conclusion we could reach was that the yellow faces are supposed to be like the happy sun shining down.

But that is so culturally imperialistic to a Northern European worldview. If you lived in the Sahara desert, you wouldn't think the sun was happy. All this must be very confusing to internet users in warmer countries, where a yellow disk signifies imminent dehydration, sunstroke and death. "Why are you wishing the evil heat death on me?" they probably say when you flash them a happy face.

Therefore, I would like to propose that versions of Instant Messaging software destined for hotter climes replace nasty yellow faces with cool blue or green. You could also do the same for Goths with black/white, though I think that might be baked. And while we're at it can we replace the game where you go "hotter hotter colder" to find something?

I'm not entirely sure if this is an idea, but in my culture fishbones are used as fertiliser, and croissants look like horns which are symbols of evil.
-- pottedstu, May 07 2002

Trillian http://www.trillian.cc
Skinnable IM which serves several networks. [yamahito, May 08 2002, last modified Oct 05 2004]

Hindi Bendy http://www.mcphee.c.../current/10468.html
Variation on a theme [gb2000, May 08 2002, last modified Oct 05 2004]

Obligatory Flirtatious Italian Smiley Post
; { )
-- thumbwax, May 07 2002


Not sure if it's an idea either, 'stu, but it's very funny.
-- waugsqueke, May 07 2002


Have some fertiliser, then. Far be it from me to offer you the horn of evil...
-- globaltourniquet, May 08 2002


Localization on the client could likely handle this.
-- bristolz, May 08 2002


Kind of baked. I use IM software which is skinnable, right down to the emoticons. If I could be bothered, it would be fairly simple to change them to whatever I wanted; furthermore, my yellow-approving friends would still see their beloved and familliar icons.
-- yamahito, May 08 2002


[pottedstu] I like yellow. I like smileys. But I'm all for considering other cultures and I agree 101% about the evil heat death wish theory. Here in Canada if it gets to 25 I start running for the basement. So a "off-yellow", mildly sunny, fully exorcized croissant.

[yamahito] Must you use the term skinnable. Yuck. How about husk (simple) or exuviate (fancy).

P.S. [p...s...] Where are you from?
-- thecat, Jul 11 2003


Rumi and the shams-ud-din, the Japanese flag, the Mayan kin glyph, &c....certainly none north African, but I'm not sure nice sun symbolism is strictly northern European.
-- n-pearson, Jul 11 2003



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