Smiling With Your Eyes

A smile can mean many things, and a lot of what it means depends on what you're doing with your eyes at the time. I've said this to a few people who didn't really believe me, so as a public service announcement, I've whipped up some illustrations to prove my point. We'll start with happy:

This smile is super happy. It is completely genuine. This smile might be shown in response to a Christmas pony or an ice cream sundae that's as big as Idaho, or a similarly-sized state.

Conversely, there is this smile:

This smile is not happy. This is the displaying of teeth when socially obligated to do so. Notice how the eyes convey insincerity. If you're receiving this smile, it's probably not in earnest, and is likely mocking you inwardly or perhaps outwardly.

Moving on with negative-type smiles, there's this one:

This smile is happy, but not for any reason you're going to like. This smile says, "I'm going to harm you right now, and I'm really going to enjoy it." You don't want to receive this smile.

On the other side:

This smile is also not an honest smile. This one comes out when harm is on its way, like on the receiving end of the previous face. Or, in a lesser sense, this one can mean something along the lines of, "I'd actually hate to do that thing you're suggesting, but I'm pretty much hosed and have to anyway."

And finally, there's this:

This face is also honestly happy. It is displayed in response to a pleasing offer, either for sexytimes, or some sort of extreme challenge, like riding an elephant over a gorge.

I hope this has been helpful.

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