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An Entry Wot I Have Writ
Apr. 19th, 2012 12:14 amI'm generally laissez faire about usage; I find the flexibility of language delightful. Yet I continue to be discomfited by the resurrected* verb "gifting" in place of old workhorse "giving."
It seems ungenerous to say someone gifted you; if you are gifted, it focuses the act on you instead of the giver. There is an implication of deservedness. The meek are given things. The extremely talented are inherently gifted.
It also introduces vagueness into the transaction, since "to gift" can also mean "to turn into a gift," so that when I read that someone was "gifted with a crystal biscuit barrel," there is a possibility that both the person and the cookie jar were given to a third party.
Finally, and at base, it shares a category with phrases like "you are speaking to myself" - those times when a speaker uses uncharacteristically formal language in ways that only serve to emphasize their class anxiety, drawing attention to their low status. (Only the middle class worry about the correct fork and who should hold the door. Born-rich people don't care, and anyway know they'll be brought another clean fork and apologized to for the trouble.)
In other words, when you use "gift" instead of "give" to stand out, it certainly does.
It was used in the 1600s, but died out until its recent resurgence. Which, let's be honest, did not come from people reading 17th century manuscripts, but from people who thought they were creating a new branch of language.
Ciro, I swear to god if you reply to this entry and it contains any form of the word buffalo, it's over between us.
It seems ungenerous to say someone gifted you; if you are gifted, it focuses the act on you instead of the giver. There is an implication of deservedness. The meek are given things. The extremely talented are inherently gifted.
It also introduces vagueness into the transaction, since "to gift" can also mean "to turn into a gift," so that when I read that someone was "gifted with a crystal biscuit barrel," there is a possibility that both the person and the cookie jar were given to a third party.
Finally, and at base, it shares a category with phrases like "you are speaking to myself" - those times when a speaker uses uncharacteristically formal language in ways that only serve to emphasize their class anxiety, drawing attention to their low status. (Only the middle class worry about the correct fork and who should hold the door. Born-rich people don't care, and anyway know they'll be brought another clean fork and apologized to for the trouble.)
In other words, when you use "gift" instead of "give" to stand out, it certainly does.
It was used in the 1600s, but died out until its recent resurgence. Which, let's be honest, did not come from people reading 17th century manuscripts, but from people who thought they were creating a new branch of language.
Ciro, I swear to god if you reply to this entry and it contains any form of the word buffalo, it's over between us.
