gift trauma
n.— «“Gift giving has lost its meaning because we’re way too focused on the reaction of the recipient instead of wanting to find a small, meaningful gift,” says Sunwolf, a communications professor at Santa Clara University in California. She coined the phrase “gift trauma” to describe the malice, ill will and general bad feelings caused by gift-giving, and she will soon release a book of the same name.» —“Santa Clara University: Researcher Says Ill Will, Anxiety Caused by a Gift-Drunk Culture Busts Relationships and Ruins Holidays” Santa Clara University (California) Dec. 10, 2004. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
When Marilyn from Boston, Massachusetts, used the expression Them’s the berries! with neighbors in her hometown of nearby Arlington, Massachusetts, she was surprised they were unfamiliar with it. The phrase means something like “That’s...
“Are we ready to order yet?” Why do restaurant servers use the word “we” when they’re not eating with you or helping you pay the bill? And a story of Cold War intrigue: A young saxophone player’s clever ruse to smuggle information past KGB...