:) !!!
From a 1969 interview with Vladimir Nabokov, author of Lolita, by Alden Whitman of the New York Times, found here:
Q: How do you rank yourself among writers (living) and of the immediate past?
A: I often think there should exist a special typographical sign for a smile-- some sort of concave mark, a supine round bracket, which I would now like to trace in reply to your question.
Vladimir Nabokov invented emoticons! :) :) :)
(Linked from Language Log, but I thought it was too entertaining not to repost.)
Q: How do you rank yourself among writers (living) and of the immediate past?
A: I often think there should exist a special typographical sign for a smile-- some sort of concave mark, a supine round bracket, which I would now like to trace in reply to your question.
Vladimir Nabokov invented emoticons! :) :) :)
(Linked from Language Log, but I thought it was too entertaining not to repost.)