The overuse of the word "gifted"

[iwantavuvezela]

I have noticed on a couple of forums I frequent (including mumsnet) the overuse of the word gifted. "I gifted myself some perfume". (erm, no, you bought some perfume for yourself to use. "I gifted my friend my pram". (you gave your pram) There are some times the word gifted can stand - but is this a new trend that has crept in.....
Okay its Monday, I'm feeling curmudgeonly after reading this term used once again on another forum
AIBU?

Do I stand alone!

Or, it's a return to language that was in common use in the 17th century.

https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2014/12/gifting-is-not-a-verb/383676/

(Though the Oxford dictionary notes the first usage of "gift" as a verb a century earlier)

My pet hate 'can I get ....' in a cafe or similar. No the waitress will get it. Hate gifted. Also hate ,hate ,hate wearing a' red lip' or I wore it with ' a boot' , what just the one?

Gifted is a word obviously but really not everything you are given is a gift.

It's absolutely awful. I'm sick of reading it. Nothing wrong with saying 'I was given'. Can we reclaim the '...ed' and put it back on words such as 'chill...' I keep seeing such crap as 'my dog's pretty chill.'

See also the use of the word "invite" as a noun rather than invitation.

Phrasal verbs come from old English via Germanic languages and have been around for a long time.
The difference tends to be that the verbs which come from Latinate roots are considered stylistically more formal than phrasal verbs.

"Reach" + various particles is one of the oldest etymologically and dates back centuries.

These verbs fell out of favour around the time of the Renaissance as they were felt to not be as "posh" for want of a better word in a society where French and Latin were still considered the ne plus ultra.

It's the original form.
The first settlers from Britain took it to America. In Britain the language changed.

Loving the usual assumptions that everything that annoys people about changes in language is 'American'

My children are growing up bilingual in a non-English speaking country. Obviously I am their main model of English, but because they only hear me in RL day to day and are not surrounded by a community of reasonably homogeneously speaking speakers, the media they listen to has perhaps more of an influence on their language than it might otherwise. So they'll say 'gotten', or 'not so big of a deal' (as opposed to the variety without the 'of'). I can't imagine what a quixotic endeavour it would be for me to fight that (not that I have any interest in trying). I'd love to see a linguist try and place them

I'm personally not keen on 'gifted/to gift' either, but clearly speakers have felt some need to distinguish it from 'give' and so I'm more interested in the contexts that use it.

Incorrect use of language is one thing. And obviously should be eradicated where possible.

Not understanding that something is perfectly correct, you just don't like it, is something different and makes you wonder what kind of English language teaching goes on, just as much really as in the case of making mistakes with "myself".

Agree, it’s infuriating. What’s wrong with gave, given or donated!

@ShoesoftheWorld oh it never takes long on these threads for every (perfectly correct and often older) word/phrase that posters who don't really know much about language don't like to be accused of being "an Americanism".

It’s up there alright with “speak my truth” and all variations of the word vibe.

The latter means to register your interest in something not yet on sale.

The former means "second hand but I'm adding a tenner to the price" See also "vintage"

I don't ever use the word "gifted" but I don't mind it, and it is an actual verb.

It's NOT synonymous with "give", because it means "give as a gift" not just "give" generally, which has a much broader meaning; so examples like "gifted birth to a baby" don't show the ridiculousness of the word; rather, that the person who wrote doesn't understand what the word means.

"I gifted my daughter my mother's antique pearl earrings"
"I gave the jeweller my mother's antique earrings to mend"

Different meanings.

Incorrect use of language is one thing. And obviously should be eradicated where possible.
Not understanding that something is perfectly correct, you just don't like it, is something different

This ^

I agree that it often sounds grating. That said, I suspect it's to make up for the lack in English of a verb denoting specifically "to give as a present." "Donate" is a different meaning - you wouldn't donate to somebody's birthday for example. As to "give", it's so broad there are a myriad other possible purposes rather than a gift something could be "given" for.

So it's understandable people are trying to find a specific expression - something that exists in other languages. Among other Germanic languages, for example, both Swedish and German have "skänka" or "schenken" in addition to the more generic "ge" or "geben". Apparently a repurposing of a verb that originally meant "to pour" or simply "to incline". In contrast Dutch, just like English, only has the more general "geven".
Slavic - at least some languages have a specific verb, e.g. podarować in Polish or podarit' in Russian, both derivatives of the general term for giving (dat'.) Finally French also lacks a specific term and instead uses faire un cadeau, donner en cadeau, whereas Italian has both dare in regalo and regalare. Naughty, sounds like they turned a noun into a verb.

@NowZeusHasLainWithLeda I know what they mean. My annoyance is that "to order" is to order is to order, even if you have to wait a while until the product is available. No need for the "Pre" bit.

And "pre-loved" is just "second-hand". Why not instead use the word "classic" or (as you suggest "vintage" to describe them? And if the lovely cashmere coat coat was so adored why is the previous owner getting rid of it in the first place? Although I guess there could be reasons. But I do agree with your analysis!

But these are two of my personal verbal irritations!

What GrumpyPanda said ('schenken' is still used in the sense of 'to pour' - 'einschenken' is to pour something (usually a drink) into something else (usually a cup/glass), which is kind of an act of giving/nurturing if you do it for someone else, pour them a cup of tea/glass of wine/whatever. That must be where the association started. There are other nuances too - 'schenken' means to give as a gift, but 'verschenken' means to give away for free (not quite the same thing - the first implies thought, care and a personal relationship, the second is a lot more businesslike and is what you'll see on the equivalent of Freecycle)).

Love a good bit of language nerdage <made-up word>

Yep - and no doubt the classism/snootiness about Hiberno-English/sneering at people who couldn't access great literacy won't be far behind <sigh>

@GrumpyPanda great and very informative post.

Yes- I think the Germanic-old English-current English pathway is how phrasal verbs happened. The Etymology online website is fascinating. And obviously would be helpful if you didn't want to make an arse of yourself by claiming "Americanism!" when the truth is 13th century Britain etc.

@GrumpyPanda Great post, thank you!

It's such an unnecessary word.

No OP you do not stand alone, this word can fuck right off!

🙄 Didn't take long. If you're not keen, try educating your daughter to speak proper english.