✅ Punch means to hit something or someone with a closed fist (I punch my friends gently in the shoulder to say hello).

✅ Sock means to hit something or someone particularly hard, generally with a closed fist (The superhero socked the villain in the face).

✅ Punch is a more general word. Sock is more evocative and dramatic.

✅ Punch can refer to a gentle or friendly hit, whereas sock always suggests a hard hit, especially one which knocks someone down or sends them reeling (The boxer really socked her opponent).

✅ Pan means to criticize something thoroughly or completely in some sort of published form (If I’d known that critics were going to pan my performance, I wouldn’t have made the movie).

✅ Roast means to ridicule or criticize someone or something mercilessly (The actor was known to roast his own characters).

✅ Pan and roast are both informal terms used to refer to criticizing something.

✅ Pan suggests a public criticism, especially in a review (Reviewers panned the movie, but audiences loved it). Roast suggests making fun of something or someone, especially in a critical way (My friends and I roast each other for fun).

✅ An emoticon is an icon or set of keyboard symbols that is used to convey emotion (I use emoticons every time I text someone).

✅ A smiley is an icon, set of keyboard symbols, or simple drawing, which represents a smiling face (She ended the letter with a smiley).

✅ Emoticon and smiley mean similar things, though smiley refers more specifically to symbols that include a smiling face.

✅ You’re probably more familiar with the word emoji—but emojis aren’t limited to just facial expressions or expressing feelings.