Chat symbols

[staceysmom]

Can someone please tell me what it means when brackets are put round words or letters when using chat sites e.g. (heart), (k)

Thank you

[Jugglering]

They are called *emoticons*, staceysmom.... here's a list of the commonly used ones

http://messenger.msn.com/Resource/Emoticons.as px

[Ethel]

You should be seeing a picture of a heart, not (heart) but if the sender is using a different version of MSN or whatever program you are using, you may only see the words.

Here are the Skype emoticons:
http://www.skype.com/intl/en/allfeatures/emoti cons/