We Chinese did not like to give or receive certain gifts for superstitious reasons: knives, because they could sever a relationship; handkerchiefs, for they portended weeping; and clocks, as they were thought to measure out the days of your life. If any of these were presented, the recipient usually paid a token amount to symbolize that it was a purchase and not a gift.
Interesting. Except for the clock one, my half Italian grandfather held those too. And it might have been the full set, and the occasion for him mentioning it never arose.
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