There's a Latin idiom that sounds like this: Noli equi dentes inspicere donati. Meaning, you don't look a gift horse in the mouth. A guy named John Heywood supposedly used this phrase in some Middle English text way back in 1546 but some experts think it's much older than that.
Since a horse's teeth can reveal a lot about the animal, including its age, checking its mouth would be a sign of mistrust towards the gift giver. This would be bad manners. So let's do that.
We at Bored Panda discovered a couple of Reddit posts (one and two) that asked users essentially the same question: what was the worst thing you received for Christmas? So given that the holidays are just around the corner and some of us will have to force a fake smile while unpacking our presents, here are a few memorable times when people were immensely disappointed by theirs.
#21
My cousin had died in a drunk driving accident a few months before, so my mom got me a breathalyzer keychain. It wouldn't have been so bad, but the card it came with said it was "from" my cousin.. I see what my mom was trying to do, but still f**ked up, IMO.
heyitsEnricoPallazzo, https://www.flickr.com/photos/mmechtley/2276954688/in/photolist-4tcZis-4td52E-7Hh35y-4td1bW-4td44N-656yoT-4t91bX-4td1Mm-7nmDvX-4t8Y4p-4t8Z76-4t8YRD-4td595-9xqeLM-4t92ev-5m7GmX-4td5qY-2kUdfrY-5z39PQ-aeweDM-4cqmyW-eeoWQx-5WfUfG-3aifpR-cCeHaf-bsbrDe-2goSYby-2goSWX1-9CCZiH-3e8NRN-oDPxZZ-oDPrSP-oDQuxp-oWjDGT-oDQiDw-oWhNFq-oWhKWh-3e8NMA-bsaW3Z-8qkLee-5PT6DC-5FNjYr-dMV3V-4AKiyq-bsQuqx-bsQtyP-2goSz52-2goSywD-2goSxDG-fjRZFU
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#22
A calendar with half nude pictures of my father and stepmother
168points
#23
I am going to answer for my sister. When I was about five (making her nine) our uncle/aunt/cousin family asked me what my sister liked. I had no idea. All I knew was she liked to yell at me. So I dumbly replied she like hair ties. For Christmas that year my sister received an assortment of an insanely high number, like two hundred different high ties, scrunches, ect. She didn't let me live that down for a looong time.
161points
#24
My grandma gave me bright red undies with googly eyes on them and an extra piece of black cloth to put your d**k inside as the "nose"....I'm a girl.
156points
#25
My mother passed away when I was in high school. One of the years after she passed, my dad kinda-sorta forgot to buy me a big Christmas present. So I came downstairs, went to get my stocking (we still do stockings), and pulled out a fistful of 20s. He'd run to the ATM early that morning so I'd have something.
The cash was great and all, but at the time, it felt awful because I just missed my mom, and wished we could have a "proper" Christmas.
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152points
#26
Every year my family does a secret Santa on Christmas. When i was about 10 my aunt had to buy me a gift. So Christmas morning i open my gift, and i find a Christmas sweater along with a pair of my aunts s**t stained underwear. Apparently she was doing laundry and wrapping gifts at the same time and got the two mixed up.
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145points
#27
Probably a box of my grandmother's ashes wrapped to look like a gift.
My mother did this.
143points
#28
My parents got me an acoustic guitar one Christmas. Problem: my brother was the one who asked for a guitar, not me. So essentially my Christmas present was seeing my brother absolutely gutted. Meanwhile I had to pretend I was happy. Awkward.
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139points
#29
My Mom rarely cared what gift we might actually want or what our personal tastes were and most often she would select a gift based on her own personal tastes. In the late-80's she decided to buy me a stereo as the main/large gift for whatever reason and she selected a Fisher Price (the children's toy brand) turn table (record player). This is after CD players were invented and of course nobody played records any more. The worst part was that she decided to treat this stereo as some sophisticated equipment that was too good for a child to play with so after Christmas she stored it, in it's original box, in our attic where it has remained until this day. It was supposed to just be stored there until some arbitrary time but my Mom is a huge procrastinator and that time never came. I'm still salty that she wasted all the money on that stupid gift rather than on something I might have enjoyed and actually got to use.
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132points
#30
Grandms got me a douche and a hospital gown that "would make a nice dress if someone sewed it all up" for me. That was weird.
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129points
