There’s a Latin proverb that loosely translates to “never inspect the teeth of a gifted horse” (“Noli equi dentes inspicere donati”). It suggests that one shouldn’t be ungrateful when receiving any gift. And we agree that receiving a gift of any kind is already a blessing. However, there really are occasions when no gift is better than the one received.
Bad gifts do exist; there’s no denying it. We can pretend to be grateful yet be utterly dissatisfied with the gift. And we are not talking about spoiled brats complaining about not getting a G Wagon for their birthday and calling a Range Rover ‘the worst birthday gift ever.’ Someone might also think that funny gag gifts are a waste of money and rank them among the worst birthday gifts. Hence the subject of bad birthday gifts is really subjective. Again, one must also consider the circumstances since, as another proverb goes, “one man’s trash is another man’s treasure.” Perhaps that’s all the person could afford — there are many conditions to it. Therefore, interested to find out what others deem the worst birthday gifts ever, we looked at the thread on Askreddit which inquired, “What’s the worst birthday gift you ever got?” And judging from the comments, plenty of people received rather awful gifts for their birthdays, be they intentional or not.
Below, we’ve compiled some of the most upvoted responses of people revealing their worst birthday gifts. If by any chance you are looking for the worst birthday gift ideas to learn what to NEVER give to someone, here you’ll find some valuable answers. Do you agree with any of these people’s definitions of the worst gifts? If so, give those an upvote. Also, have you ever received an awful birthday gift? What was it? Let us know in the comments!
#1
irisdenise06 said:
"Thought I was getting a bike for my 15th birthday but my foster parents announced that they were sending me to a group home after living with them for 11 years. Devastation!"
"Thought I was getting a bike for my 15th birthday but my foster parents announced that they were sending me to a group home after living with them for 11 years. Devastation!"
FormerLadyKing replied:
"This one breaks my heart. I am so sorry love. 11 years unimaginable."
"This one breaks my heart. I am so sorry love. 11 years unimaginable."
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36points
#2
Revenge_of_the_Khaki said:
"A pair of homemade custom pajamas. The only problem was that they weren't made yet. It was just the fabric and a promise to make them for me. I had to give the fabric back and I never got the pajamas."
"A pair of homemade custom pajamas. The only problem was that they weren't made yet. It was just the fabric and a promise to make them for me. I had to give the fabric back and I never got the pajamas."
Whyevenbotherbeing replied:
"Holy cow my parents do stuff like this. It’s so weird. Their ultimate wack-a-doo move was to give my wife and me a few acres of their property. Nothing legal just at our wedding they gave us a card that basically said ‘have some land ‘. When the dust settled I asked what they thought we would do with it, they said to build a home. I said ok, gonna need legal ownership for building a house. They said sure we will get right on that. Then they decide to sell out and retire and never mentioned our wedding ‘gift’ again."
"Holy cow my parents do stuff like this. It’s so weird. Their ultimate wack-a-doo move was to give my wife and me a few acres of their property. Nothing legal just at our wedding they gave us a card that basically said ‘have some land ‘. When the dust settled I asked what they thought we would do with it, they said to build a home. I said ok, gonna need legal ownership for building a house. They said sure we will get right on that. Then they decide to sell out and retire and never mentioned our wedding ‘gift’ again."
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29points
#3
"My worst was also my best. One of my high school girlfriends found out when my birthday was, which I don't like to celebrate. She was adamant that I must want SOMETHING out of all the things in the world. I finally gave in and said, "A box of dirt". I'll be damned if my birthday rolled around and she didn't have a nice pretty ribbon tied up on top of a tiny, little, cardboard jewelry box. You'll never guess what was inside! Beef jerky! No, I'm not serious! DIRT! It was full of dirt! Obviously, she had other things stashed away but I'll be damned if that wasn't the cheesiest, most adorable present I'd ever received. She was the only one to ever listen to me when I said what I wanted for my birthday, which is usually nothing. We aren't together anymore because of me, but she is still a distant yet trusted friend and I am thankful for our time together. I'm glad she is happy."
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29points
#4
masteroffeels said:
"I got a credit card for my 18th birthday and was told not to use it because it wasn't "active yet". When I landed my first real corporate Job at 22yo the company ran a credit report on me and found out I had a $350K line opened.
"I got a credit card for my 18th birthday and was told not to use it because it wasn't "active yet". When I landed my first real corporate Job at 22yo the company ran a credit report on me and found out I had a $350K line opened.
Turns out my father had tricked me into signing a co mortgage, and no credit card paperwork on my 18th bday.
I received Debt on my 18th bday."
wicketfence880replied:
"Almost the same. When I was 20 my dad told me about how I could check my credit annually for free so I did and discovered a ton of credit cards that had been opened in my name when I was 11-14 years old. Initially, I was naive and thought my identity was stolen by a stranger.
"Almost the same. When I was 20 my dad told me about how I could check my credit annually for free so I did and discovered a ton of credit cards that had been opened in my name when I was 11-14 years old. Initially, I was naive and thought my identity was stolen by a stranger.
A few years later, when I tried to cash out a trust account, I discovered that my mom had already done it. Identity theft clicked into place that day."
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26points
#5
"My mom would get me a carrot cake every year for my birthday.
I hate carrot cake. Always have. But it was my dad's favorite so."
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21points
#6
sneakysnakeeeee said:
"My own scarf. Yes, that's right, my mother went into my room took my only scarf, wrapped it and gave it to me like it was a new scarf."
"My own scarf. Yes, that's right, my mother went into my room took my only scarf, wrapped it and gave it to me like it was a new scarf."
achillygirl replied:
"Did you pretend to be surprised? Sorry that happened to you!"
"Did you pretend to be surprised? Sorry that happened to you!"
Rybread52 replied:
"You shouldn’t have!"
"You shouldn’t have!"
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20points
#8
"I played high school football (American) because my narcissistic (and abusive) father wanted to live vicariously through me.
He framed his old jersey and gave it to me as a birthday present.
Like I was supposed to worship him or something."
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19points
#9
"A white cashmere turtleneck.
I was gifted it by my aunt after she struck up a conversation about my style (that she claimed she liked) a few months prior, and I mentioned to her that:
I don't wear white clothing because no matter what it always magically gets stained
I hate the feeling of turtlenecks because they make me feel like I'm getting choked and are always too warm for me because if it's cold enough to wear a turtleneck, every building will have the heat cranked to 100° F
cashmere is too warm of a material for me to wear as a base layer because when I overheat I typically get nosebleeds. Now looping back to point number one."
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19points
#10
"My dad bought me a shoe shine kit so I could shine his shoes."
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19points
#11
"My grandparents bought my younger brother an iPad mini on my birthday. Then had it engraved 'You are our superhero'. They later gave me my gift which was a wheel barrow with a half used bag of fertilizer in it."
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19points
#12
"Not me but my friend's sister... he bought her a 6-pack of Slim Fast!"
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18points
#13
"Husband forgot my birthday, took the day off when he remembered (I was working from home), went to buy something, and took maybe ten minutes tops in the store. Bought roses from the grocery store while he was there buying himself cigarettes. He came home with a DVD box set he'd been dying to watch, and the new CD from a band I'd not only lost interest in but had been saying I'd lost interest in for ages. Not that he let me listen to CDs anyway, since he hated my taste in music. Then he spent the rest of the day celebrating the birthday of his online friend while I was working from home. They're married now."
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18points
#14
"My ex-girlfriend had some boudoir photos taken of herself... like sexy lingerie photos, which she put up in her room. 3 different pictures were put up. Had a whole book made of them also.
She let me see them. That was my present. Pictures of herself. That she kept. And put up in her room."
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18points
#15
"Forgotten.
It was either a blessing or a curse, considering my mom forgot until 9 pm, left me a voicemail telling me Happy Birthday, and forgot to hang up. Hearing her tell my sister 'There, I did it.' Was... interesting."
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18points
#17
"An ugly shirt from my Aunt who said I needed to share it with my sister who has a birthday ten days after mine."
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17points
#18
"A book that was already mine. My sister went through my stuff, found a book she figured I had forgotten about, and “gave” it to me for my birthday."
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17points
#19
"The pair of headphones I ordered online. My Mom just happened to be home when the postman dropped it off."
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17points
#20
"My grandparents have been gifting me (and my brother) the same set of three vice grips for almost 10 years. Collectively we have 60 vice grips. I don’t know if they bought a pallet of them, or where they are coming from.
GET A GRIP GRANDMA!"
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16points