There is a remarkable breakdown of taste and intelligence at Christmastime. Mature, responsible grown men wear neckties made of holly leaves and drink alcoholic beverages with raw egg yolks and cottage cheese in them.

P. J. O’Rourke (1947–2022) was an American political satirist and essayist known for skewering modern habits through exaggerated, deadpan observation. This line comes from his holiday-themed humor writing, in which he treats Christmas not as a sacred season but as a social phenomenon that temporarily suspends ordinary standards of judgment. The joke targets two conspicuous seasonal rituals—tacky festive clothing (novelty ties) and indulgent, old-fashioned drinks (egg-based cocktails)—to suggest that even competent adults participate in customs they would otherwise find irrational or unappetizing. The tone is characteristic O’Rourke: bemused, slightly curmudgeonly, and aimed at middle-class American holiday culture.

The quote satirizes how holidays can license behavior that would seem absurd in everyday life. By pairing “taste” with “intelligence,” O’Rourke implies that Christmas produces a temporary collective lapse in both aesthetic judgment and practical sense: respectable adults embrace kitsch and consume dubious concoctions simply because tradition says they should. The specificity—holly-leaf neckties and drinks with raw egg yolks—sharpens the humor by making the irrationality concrete and bodily. Beneath the joke is a broader observation about social conformity: seasonal rituals create a shared script, and people follow it even when it conflicts with their normal preferences, because participation signals belonging and good cheer.