Most Instant Messaging systems — and some e-mail clients (e.g., Thunderbird) automatically replace emoticon text, for example, smilies — 🙂 — with graphical images to “look better.”
Problem is, sometimes the replacements aren’t what the sender intended:
A colleague was discussing his 401(k) plan with his boss, who happens to be female, via instant messaging. He discovered, to his horror, that the boss’ instant-messaging client was rendering the “(k)” as a big pair of red smoochy lips.
I’ve had this happen in IM messages with Margie, when MSN interpreted a set of points I was making, which I labeled as (a) and (b), to be a little Angel and a Beer mug.
*sigh*
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