Bah-Humbug!

By Staff -- Gifts & Decorative Accessories, 12/18/2007 10:06:00 AM

London — It may be a time of good will to all, but a new survey reveals the 50 things that drive us mad about Christmas. More precisely, they drive our cousins in the U.K. mad. A new study by First Choice Holidays asked 3,000 Brits to pick out the things that put their knickers in a twist during this joyful, festive period.

Everything from irritating Christmas music played on a loop in a shopping center to over-decorated houses made it to the list — even unwelcome relatives got a mention. Stress, long lines in stores and being stuck in traffic also emerged as major festive annoyances during the season. And ironically, people who don't like Christmas also made the top 50. But top of the list for Christmas peeves were novelty accessories like as tinsel earrings and Santa hats.

A spokeswoman for First Choice said: '"We understand how stressful Christmas time can be for many families, which is why many of us are packing up our things and jetting off abroad for some winter sun or a ski trip. (Editor's Note: or shopping in the U.S. Be sure to read all about it in Gifts & Dec's January issue.)

The results make miserable reading so if you're one of those people who loves everything about Christmas - look away now.

Following are the top 25 of the top 50 things Brits hate about Christmas.

1. Novelty accessories
2. The sales
3. Christmas carol ringtones
4. Traffic
5. Queues (lines)
6. Unwelcome relatives
7. Shopping
8. Christmas advertisements
9. Drunks
10. Rubbish television
11. Hangovers
12. The Queen's speech (Editor's Note: Can't say this bothers us much here in the Colonies, but we do have our own list of contenders.)
13. Washing up (Editor's Note: Say what?)
14. Excessively decorated houses
15. Bad jokes in crackers (Editor's Note: If you click through for the definition, it is number 4.)
16. Putting on weight
17. The weather
18. Unwanted mistletoe bearers
19. Travelling on congested roads
20. Family-related stress
21. People going on about the real reason for Christmas
22. Broken lights
23. Poor public transport
24. Packed pubs
25. Falling asleep on Christmas Day (Editor's Note: We do that on Thanksgiving here in the U.S.)

And what are your pet holiday peeves?