[orthography] Interblogosphere anthropology: ")))"?

[siderea]

I'm reading Russian LJ via googletranslate (I started with the latest lj_ru_beta post, and started wandering from there, and I keep seeing an emoticon I don't recognize: "))" or ")))". At least, I think it's an emoticon. It's always at the end of a sentence. Examples in situ here. Also here's one. Here's another. (If someone can provide a better

Comments

[ron_newman]

Not an answer to your question, but ... I'm curious why Google Translate fails to translate the comments at your second and third links.

[siderea]

How odd. They were translated when I linked to them.

[ron_newman]

For me, the posts are translated, the comments are not. (But at your first link, everything is translated.)

ETA: This google search may be somewhat enlightening -- one of those pages suggests it has to do with : or ; not being on the standard Russian keyboard layout, so Russians omit the 'eyes' from smileys?

[siderea]

Huh! Thanks!

[londo]

Drink too much vodka and you grow an extra chin?

Nah, the fat people in this world are the Americans, not the Russians. Hm.

[tpau]

"when the lobster on the mountain whistles" is an expression like "when pigs fly" or when there is a cold day in hell :P