What's in a smile?

[tonicandgin]

A smile is one of the most expressive things on a person's face, but like tone of voice they carry different connotations. Which one is your default smile?

1. The "Polite" Smile

Typically closed mouthed, but varies from person to person. This is the smile you give when politely acknowledging strangers, also a smile you give to someone you are forced to be nice to or when rejecting someone. Unfortunately, a lot of people have a hard time distinguishing my "polite" smile from my genuine one.

2. The "Dreamy" Smile

This smile is one you see when somebody's "smitten." You see this look in a couple's honeymoon phase a lot, or maybe when they develop a mild obsession for a crush. The look when they are on cloud 9 and often times talk in circles and forget to do their damn job ;)

3. The "Crooked" Smile

The Crooked smile is one of my favorite smiles <3. It either means you are going through something negative in your life but smiling as a way to soldier on, or it can mean a little mischief headed your way!

4. The "Strained" Smile

Much like the "polite" smile but with poorer acting skills. This person obviously does not like you or you make them uncomfortable. This is for when people are caught in an awkward postion they can't get out of easily. Sometimes hard to detect, so make sure you pay attention to the stiffness in their posture or overall body language. Pleeease .

5. The "Smirk"

Do you ever get the feeling of satisfaction when Karma hits someone? Or something inappropriately hilarious happens and you try not to laugh? Sometimes this smile could even be considered "condescending".

6. The "Creepy" Smile

You know that one smile that looks slick and oily and sometimes looks like a Glasgow smile without the blood or scars? It's the smile they will make normal people's skin crawl. We've all encountered at least one creep in our lives, unless you ARE the creep.

7. The "Genuine" Smile

This one makes others feel warm and fuzzy inside :) Who can resist a charming wide mouthed smile exposing those pearly whites and making those pretty eyes crinkle? Pretty hard to fake this one, unless you were brought up to please people.

[Jean-Marie_Céline]

I really enjoyed reading this Take, thank you for writing it!
You detailed very well the types of smile and their connotations, and I reckon I saw them all in many occasions, exactly as you describe.

One thing I learned is that to understand how genuine a smile is, it's necessary to look at the eyes of the person - they'll almost always give away their real expression.
In most cases, the mouth smiles, the eyes not.

[Jean-Marie_Céline]

Thanks for MHO!

[Gedaria]

Yes, it's amazing how facial expressions can speak more than words. It's knowing how to read them...

[Starshine85]

Sometimes genuine, sometimes for politeness but openmouthed

[StingRayxoxo]

I love a crooked smile. It's adorable.

[tonicandgin]

me too :)

[StingRayxoxo]

Great mytake! We should all smile more often. Genuinely so.

[tonicandgin]

Thnx

[StingRayxoxo]

Thanks for MHO

[Sonorous]

I smile too much! My own mother thought I was going crazy a few years back cause I would always smile 😂

I'm not crazy tho 🙂

[Starshine85]

I smile a lot too. Is there really 'too much' though? I mean, it might be more than most in society or more than is usual in society but if it welcomes other people, makes others feel good and lots of other reasons...

[Sonorous]

I guess when done at the wrong moments 😂 I'd be sitting at a funeral trying not to bust out laughing because everything would be funny to me

[tonicandgin]

@Starshine85 i think there is such thing as smiling too much. It would be the pilite strained smile that for some reason won't turn off. For me it's like a defaupt face.

[tonicandgin]

*default

[Iwant2kno]

I smile all the time, not much at work but when I’m with my acquaintances and my family, I smile and laugh a lot.

[Stingray444]

Nice post! Another tip I found is, the more they're happy or, the more laughter they have when smiling, the more that the lines or folds (as I call it) show near the corner of the eye

Like see, with the guy closing his eyes: He's most likely happier ( not faking ) because where I circled, he has more of the 'laugh lines' as I call it lol... But as with the guy looking away: he may not be showing off fully exactly how he's looking cuz he has minimal 'laugh lines' or the wrinkles near the nearest corner of your eye near closer to your sideburns

[Miss_Savanna_Dry]

The smile on a guy is the first thing I notice. Makes me melt. My favourite kind of smile is when a guy is really excited to tell you something and their face lights up and they're smiling at you being really excited to tell you something, that right there I could stare at all day.

[Miss_Savanna_Dry]

It's like a boyish, adventurous, excited smile. If a guy has this smile it's like marry me now.

[Curmudgeon]

What about The Uncertain Smile?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5bErFXjUGvQ

[tonicandgin]

i missed a few smiles... like the I'm seeing the candyman smile, the sorry smile, the sarcastic smile etc.

[sean1234]

Teeth are in a smile

www.bing.com/.../search

[sean1234]

[Anonymous]

The smirk is actually contempt. It means the person sees you as lesser than they are.

And you forgot the duping delight smile, probably the one you labeled as creepy. It denotes that they're putting on a performance and they're happy you're buying into it.

[tonicandgin]

I did say the smirk was condenscending

[Opinion Owner]

Both descriptions say it's an expression of looking down on someone. The usual term is contempt, but condescension is the same thing.

[abc013]

I think smiles are amazing and I feel bad for people who aren’t comfortable with theirs. They are so important!

[SentientBrick]

You did the wrong joker heretic. Lol

[J2ohhhhh]

It's either "hey are you a person? I'm a person too, we have so much in common!" With extroverts or "it's okay" with introverts.

[theTurkishGuy34]

Nice post i like it, and definetely politr smiling :D

[AcidT0y]

Mine comes off as sarcastic usually (and it usually is xD)
Wide toothy grin but it's all mouth. Rest of the face remains as normal. No idea why I do it, it's just a habbit I've picked up

[Sevenpointfive]

i'm totally a "smirker". i laugh on the inside most of the time.

[Therisinghero12]

I love the genuine smile and I give it out all the time, even if nothing good is going on just smiling can make me feel better and improve my day! :D

[sasukeuchiha7]

I rarely smile or don't smile at all. It's kinda irritating to hear people telling me to smile.

[MikeTheGreek79]

I always hated being told to smile especially for pictures gotta force a smile.

[Hawky_]

Well I'd say... teeth and lips mainly... maybe a hint of tongue

[Rob19977799]

i dont smile and if i do i force it sometimes when taking pics

[bladedshard]

The walking by someone in the hallway you dont really know smile.

[girltpaige]

What’s mine?

[tonicandgin]

"not feeling it" mood?