Four ways to find out if someone hates their present

Christmas is around the corner and, if you’re anything like us, you’ll have piles of presents waiting to go to their various recipients sitting in assorted stages of disarray in your room. After all your hard work reading our various gift guides, scrutinising your relationships with people to decipher which budget bracket they fall into and finally braving the crowds to actually purchase the gift- the final hurdle is here. Will all your hard work have paid off?

Despite being actual humans, most of us are lacking in confidence in our ability to read other humans, which can make it difficult to work out if your present has been well received or not.

Luckily for you, we’ve done some expert research and have come up with the following tips to help you figure it out…

Body language

Smile

Is it a smile or a grimace? Does the smile reach their eyes? Are they smiling at all? A complete lack of smiling could indicate that they aren’t thrilled.

Crying

Tears — again, important to decode this one correctly. Are they joy? Sadness? Look to see if the mouth is turned upwards or downwards for clues. Crying that turns into sobbing generally insinuates that something is wrong — your gift may be the catalyst of this.

Stance

What is their body language saying when they open the gift? Are they hugging it to themselves with joy, are they hugging you with joy? Or have they left the room (without the present). Leaving the room immediately might suggest that the gift hasn’t been well received.

Language

• I absolutely love it! TRANSLATION “Great another bath and body set. I don’t even own a bath…”
• Wow, this is so… unexpected! TRANSLATION “What on earth is this? Why is it wrapped in so much plastic? Is it a cooking instrument..?”
• Wow, I didn’t even know they made these… TRANSLATION Again, this means something in the realm of “What on earth is this contraption and why have you brought it into my life”
• Oh great — well, you can never have too many… TRANSLATION This suggests that the person has received multiple of whatever it is you’ve gifted them. Try to be more original next year.
• “Only you would think of this!” TRANSLATION They literally hate it
• “Where did you find this?!” TRANSLATION They literally hate it

Jokes aside, if you’re reading this with the familiar feeling of dread that accompanies another familial disappointment at Christmas — perhaps the WhatWeWant app is your perfect companion for next gift-giving season? Simply ask your family and friends to upload their dream gift onto the app, so you can go ahead and contribute to it, making sure you get everybody what they want.