[ thanks ] flowers

[sunshineoutdoors]

I know the flowers icon was started as a way of thanking, but I have seen lots of people use it now in a 'here, have a bunch of flowers' way, like if someone's feeling a bit down or sad. I have seen a few instead of [ thanks ]

I know it probably doesn't matter but if people give the without meaning thanks, but instead to mean 'poor you', 'hope these cheer you up' etc., would it be better if they were produced by writing instead of [ thanks ] ?

I've used them a couple of times to cheer someone up, but always done something along the lines of :

= flowers to cheer you up

I suppose that any smiley can morph into having more than one meaning. I saw, a while back, that some people think the is a bit passive/aggressive, which quite surprised me. I tend to use it when a is probably a bit too much for the context, but need a to show amusement.