smiley face
/ˈsmʌɪli feɪs/originally US
noun
1A simple graphic representation of a smiling face; specifically a round, cartoon-style face, originally and chiefly black on yellow.
- The black and yellow design was originally devised by Harvey Ball, U.S. commercial artist, in 1963, for the State Mutual Life Assurance Company (Worcester, Mass.), as the logo of a corporate friendship campaign. It is frequently used as a symbol of hope, peace, solidarity, etc., especially in youth culture (associated especially in the United States with the 1970s). It is also specifically associated (chiefly in the United Kingdom) with the Acid House movement of the late 1980s and early 1990s..
2In electronic communications: a symbol which (viewed sideways) represents a smiling face, formed with keyboard characters and used to indicate that the writer is pleased or joking. In later use: any of a number of different ‘faces’ so represented, indicating a variety of emotions; an emoticon.
Origin
1950s; earliest use found in The Sarasota Herald-Tribune. From smiley + face.