okay, so I brought up the idea of having an emoticon to signify ironic intent. so (as is my wont) I did a little research. the most common suggestions I found are ;-) and ;->

these are, disfortunately, ambiguous (combined with irony that could be deadly). 1) the standard is inclusively recommended for: Irony; Sardonic incredulity; So happy, s/he is crying; Flirt; Got beat up[?]; Flirtatious or sarcastic remark. 2) likewise, ;-> is used for: Cynical wink; Irony; Winky and devil combined (a very lewd remark was just made); Wicked grin.

delving further, I was told "If you use sarcasm or irony, make sure that your readers know it." ignoring any possible irony in this latter statement, it would seem that we need something definitive and disambiguous to denote irony. but foraging on I was warned "Irony, it seems, is like nitroglycerin: too tricky to be good for much, and so best left in the hands of fanatics or trained professionals."

never mind.