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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

...to be driven mad by the use of 'gift' as a verb?

98 replies

Rainatnight · 04/10/2017 12:26

It's not a verb. Gifting something sounds weird. You gave someone a present. Or they gave you one.

Where did this terrible trend come from? Who gifted it to us?!

OP posts:
squoosh · 04/10/2017 12:29

I find it mildly irritating too that 'gifting' is suddenly everywhere. I think people use it to sound a bit grander.

'I gifted my friend some chocolates' rather than 'I gave my friend a box of chocs'.

squoosh · 04/10/2017 12:30

And while I'm here the continuous present tense of 'love'.

'I'm loving these chocolates my friend gifted to me'.

Bah.

AuntLydia · 04/10/2017 12:32

It is both a noun and a verb and according to the Oxford English Dictionary has been used as a verb for centuries. I agree though, for some completely illogical reason I don't like seeing it used as a verb either!

AntiGrinch · 04/10/2017 12:32

THIS drives me FUCKING NUTS. I HATE it.
It is so obviously the same root as "give" which is a perfectly good verb. There is nothing to get confused about!

Are we going to start doing this with all nouns from verbs?

"I producted a TV show last year" - NO! you PRODUCED a TV show last year!

That one is so obviously mental, why are people dicking about with "gifted"?

Sayyouwill · 04/10/2017 12:34

@squoosh I believe that was McDonald's fault lol

Do do do dudooo

TeachesOfPeaches · 04/10/2017 12:34

I HATE HATE HATE it. Also co-worker instead of colleague.

winobaglady · 04/10/2017 12:35

I wonder if the roots are in some legalese somewhere?
If you are gifted a sum of money, and the giver passes away within 7 years then you, the recipient, are liable for tax?

If someone were to give me some money I wouldn't care what they called it Grin

MagicFajita · 04/10/2017 12:37

Inbox is the one that annoys me.

You will not "inbox" me because it is a noun. Grrrrrr

squoosh · 04/10/2017 12:37

@Sayyouwill I definitely blame McDonalds for the rise of 'loving'! Grin

It was bloody Justin Timberlake who first sang that 'du du du du doooo I'm loving it' jingle. Well Justin, you won't be loving it when I put this McFlurry down your pants.

MadisonAvenue · 04/10/2017 12:39

It annoys me too OP.

squoosh · 04/10/2017 12:39

No one has ever dared inbox me. The very thought!

LaurieMarlow · 04/10/2017 12:40

I like it actually. I find it more precise and efficient than the alternatives.

Flyingflipflop · 04/10/2017 12:41

Or we could just accept that language changes over time.

I don't see many these days standing round the water cooler sounding like extras from Macbeth.

squoosh · 04/10/2017 12:42

Oh I accept that Flying, I just like to be able to grumble a little at the same time.

Flyingflipflop · 04/10/2017 12:46

I'm just having a counter moan!

I'm in a rebellious mood today...

AliPfefferman · 04/10/2017 12:46

I completely agree, OP! It sounds ridiculous.

WhyteKnyght · 04/10/2017 12:58

Yes language changes etc, but there are certain changes that do annoy because they sound pretentious, as if the speaker is trying to make whatever they are saying sound more portentous than it really is. "I gifted my friend some of DD's old baby clothes sounds so much more self-important than "I gave my friend some of DD's old baby clothes".

Another one that really irritates me is the rising use of "me" and "you" instead of "myself" and "yourself", because it sounds so twee and breathless. Almost always seen in the context of "oh hun, you've got to look after you" or "I'm not doing X: I'm going to look after me". It's like a bizarre antidote to the (much more well-established) habit of replacing "me" with "myself" to make your sentence sound more important: "would you like to book an appointment with myself" etc.

ThePants999 · 04/10/2017 13:16

Sorry, I disagree. "Give" is much less clear. If I give you some money, it could be a gift, or it could be repaying you some money that I owed you, or it could be to buy me something, or it could be to hold while I tie my shoelaces. If I gift you some money, it's entirely clear what's going on. You can say "give it as a gift", but that's so unwieldy in comparison.

That said, I'd never use it if context made it unnecessary. So instead of "I gifted her £20 for her birthday", I'd use "gave" there.

Orchardgreen · 04/10/2017 13:20

I hate the misuse of "random". Arrrgh

VeniVidiWeeWee · 04/10/2017 13:24

The OED shows first usage of gifted as 1608. So you, re complaining about the original use of the word?

SusanTheGentle · 04/10/2017 13:28

Gift as a verb comes from the very early 17th century according to the OED so yes YABU! It's perfectly reasonable usage.

VeniVidiWeeWee · 04/10/2017 13:30

Sorry. You're.

MCBeatsandGrindah · 04/10/2017 13:33

YANBU. It grates on me too. Like Olympians 'medalling'.

DameDiazepamTheDramaQueen · 04/10/2017 13:36

I'm loving these chocolates my friend gifted to me

Yeah, bloody MacDonald's, no one said it before their advert.

Using 'gifted' is an attempt to sound grander,I agree.

ElfrideSwancourt · 04/10/2017 13:37

It is more commonly used in the US I think and I hate American English creeping in- gotten particularly annoys me.