Evolution of the heart emoticon <3

Nelson Minar's latest blog post has a nice bit about the continuing evolution of heart emoticon (<3) among gamers:

<3 is a little sideways heart, to express love. Usually used ironically in response to a bitchy joke, or in apology for making said bitchy joke. Variants include </3 for a broken heart, <$ to convey a financial motive for love, and <4 as the superlative of <3.

<4 is just brilliant.

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