What do happy faces really mean?

I write happy faces whenever I want to express that I smile or grin or laugh while saying something.

The twinkle smiley ;-) says that you are being ironic or even sarcastic. Never use sarcasm in an e-mail without the twinkle smiley or another way of making clear that you don’t really mean it. People might start to hate you and you will never know why.

Written language is often misunderstood, because it doesn’t come with mimics. You know. If people put in a smiley, then a sentence that would sound grim/factual or even mean otherwise might be understood to be meant as joyful and friendly.

The same thing goes with frown-ies. Saying “My co worker just took the last cup of coffee.” is a factual statement. But if you say “My co worker just took the last cup of coffee. :-( “ The receiver of your mail might get that you are craving coffee and dislike your co worker now.