What Valentine's Day  gifts do you want most?
 
What day makes people more anxious than any other day of the year?

If you answered April 15, you're way off.

Even the IRS' strangle hold on your wallet is no match for the grip Cupid has on lovers who want to please and delight their significant others.

If the holiday has you sweating, you're not alone. Many surveys show lovers can be out touch with what the loves of their lives really want for Valentine's Day.

And the consequences of a bad Valentine's Day gift aren't pretty. According to one survey, as many as six million people have broken up with someone on Valentine's Day.

A survey conducted by Bill Me Later Inc. and Ipsos Insight reveals that men really are from Mars when it comes to knowing what their sweethearts want for Valentine's Day.

More than 90 percent of the men polled said they would be giving a hug as part of their gift. Only 13 percent of the female respondents, however, said they wanted a hug. Twenty-two percent of men who intend to give gifts said they would give lingerie, but only 2 percent of the women surveyed want lingerie.

Flowers, the most coveted¹ gift on the female list of desirable Valentine's Day gifts, ranked second on the male gift-giving list. However, jewelry², which was the women's second pick for most desired gift, only rated fifth on the men's list.

Does all of this discord³ between men and women's visions of the perfect Valentine's Day cause any relationship damage?

It certainly does.

The difference in gender⁴ perception is probably a more significant problem than people imagine, according to Carolyn Kaufman, a clinical psychologist and an assistant professor at Columbus State Community College in Ohio.

The commercial expectations for Valentine's Day are focused on women's ideals of love, and not men's.

"That means men are forced to do things that don't say love to them," she said. "In fact, for men, (these gifts) may just (be) cheesy."

人们在一年中的哪一天最烦恼？

就连国税局给人们带来的纳税之忧也比不上爱神“丘比特”给那些想取悦对方的情侣们带来的烦恼。

为情人节伤透脑筋的并不只是你一个人。很多调查显示，情侣们在情人节这天常常送错礼物。

而送错礼物的后果往往很严重。据一项调查显示，多达600万人在情人节这天分手。

Bill Me Later集团和“益普索观察”机构联合开展的一项调查表明，在情人节送礼物方面，男人可真是从火星上来的（此处指不了解女人心思；源于一本畅销书名《男人来自火星，女人来自金星》）。

超过90%的受访男性称他们将送给爱人一个拥抱作为礼物的一部分。而仅有13%的女性受访者表示她们想得到一个拥抱。在打算送礼物的男性中，22%的人表示将送内衣，而仅有2%的女性渴望得到这个礼物。

女性最渴望得到的情人节礼物“鲜花”在男性最想送的礼物榜上排名第二。然而，女性的第二选择“珠宝首饰”在男性的送礼榜上仅名列第五。

男性和女性在完美情人节礼物上观点的不一致会危及两人的感情吗？

答案当然是肯定的。

临床心理学家、俄亥俄州哥伦比亚州立社区学院的副教授卡罗琳•考夫曼说，男女在情人节礼物认识上的差别可能是一个比人们想象的严重得多的问题。

而情人节的“商业期望”也更侧重于女性的喜好，而不是男性。

她说：“这意味着男性不得不去做并不能代表自己爱的心声的事。而事实上，男性可能根本看不上这些礼物。”

Vocabulary:

way off:跑题；大错特错