Yes, back in my BBSing days, using <grin> or (more commonly) <g> was popular before smilies such as :) took off. And when they did, we just called them smilies,

Yes, back in my BBSing days, using <grin> or (more commonly) <g> was popular before smilies such as :) took off. And when they did, we just called them smilies, even frowny face ones, not emoticons.