Word Nerds pls Help Me
 

I finally got around to reading the Nov/Dec Poets and Writers.

I ran across this sentence in an article.

I am almost evangelical in my love of the book, and I've gifted it to more than three dozen people since first discovering it more than ten years ago.

Do you use "gifted" to mean that you gave something to somebody?

If so, how long has this been going on?

Pass me the smelling salts, someone.

Don't faint just yet, Janice. Here's an entry copied from Merriam-Webster's Unabridged online (the pronunciation sound file links won't copy, though):

Main Entry: 2 gift Pronunciation Guide
Pronunciation: "
Function: transitive verb
Inflected Form(s): -ed/-ing/-s
1 : to endow with some power, quality, or attribute : INVEST <the Lord gifted him with the power of forceful speech>
2 a chiefly Britain : to make a gift of <gifted the money in memory of his uncle -- British Agric. Bulletin> <I hear Her Excellency's gifted the land -- Kamala Markandaya> b : to present with a gift : PRESENT <generously gifted us with a copy -- Saturday Review> <gifted his parents with a television set -- Sydney (Australia) Sunday Telegraph> <gifted her with a large heart-shaped diamond -- Louella Parsons>

I wish there were dates on these examples, and I wish there were usage notes. Here's the note from Fowler's 3d:

gift (verb): Despite its antiquity (first recorded in the 16th c.) and its frequent use, esp. by Scottish writers, since then, it has fallen out of favor among standard speakers in England and is best avoided. On the other hand, gifted ppl. adj 'talented' (a gifted violinist) is standard.

Janice,

Once you revive, I can make you faint again. Not only has gifted survived, but in the last decade, due to a Seinfeld episode, "regifted" has surged into general use.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regift

Click on that link, and you'll need a whole box of smelling salts! ;)

Thanks,

Bill

Hi Janice,

As a kid I remember someone complaining that Americans have a penchant for turning every noun into a verb. I don't know if it happens elsewhere, but it's much too often the case in the US. I've heard "gifted" before, though I'm not sure how long it's been in usage. My guess is that it's resulted from the popularity of the term "regifting". I find that tacky, so this year I'll be "Goodwilling" the presents I cannot use. (Sorry, I couldn't resist!)

Cheers,
Laurel

"This Christmas, gift her with the gift that keeps on gifting!"

Laurel, welcome to the Sphere. I don't know whether it's a particularly American penchant. It strikes me as being a characteristic of the English language. It is really rather difficult to think of a noun (at least, a simple rather than a compound noun) that isn't also used as a verb. Just looking at the table in front of me, with its books, pens and papers, and then at the room, with its chairs, tables, carpet, curtains... There isn't a single one of those words that can't also be used as a verb (book a room, pen a sonnet, paper the walls, chair a meeting, table a motion, carpet a room, curtain something off...).

Of course, the objection against "gift" as a verb, is why use it in place of the verb "give" (from which it presumably derives)? The answer may be because "give" isn't always considered quite enough to render the concept. This thought comes to me by back-translating from Italian. Italian has the verb "dare", which translates as "give", but it also has the verb "regalare", which means specifically to give something as a present (rather than just handing it over or consigning it). When I'm translating from Italian I tend to translate "regalare" just with the word "give", since it usually sounds awkward to say "he gave me a box of chocolates as a present..." But who knows, I may one day be tempted to use the verb "gift" to make the distinction clear. Probably not for a while yet, since I too have a pretty strong streak of linguistic snobbery (or pedantry, or curmudgeonliness, or whatever you want to call it). But it's interesting to know the possibility is there.

Yes, exactly, and isn't that one of the wonderful and beautiful advantages of the language. We need only look to master Shakespeare for numerous examples of this word shuffling. Just today I was looking over Measure For Measure and came upon a marvelous example.

Duke Vincentio has left Vienna and appointed Angelo as his deputy during the absence. If you're familiar with the play, you know that Angelo becomes bloated with power and self-righteousness. The Duke returns disguised as a friar, and in one scene speaks with the character named Lucio. During the conversation, Lucio says, "Lord Angelo dukes it well in his absence."

Isn't that grand! Angelo dukes it! A striking example of a noun used as a verb. No wonder we always return to Shakespeare.

Richard

Well it hasn't surged into MY use. Why is 'At Christmas I gifted him a dancing girl' more modern and zingy than 'At Christmas I gave him a dancing girl'? What is this ridiculous use of nouns as verbs?

"There is no noun cannot be verbed"
(American IT techie)

Yeah, as a verb it goes back to the 16th century, but primarily in the sense of "to endow with some power, quality, or attribute," which is where the adjective "gifted" comes from. But as it is used these days as interchangeable with "to give" makes no sense. What is the benefit of saying gift/gifted/gifting over give/gave/giving. I usually don't get to worked up about usage changes, but this one is so needless, it bothers even me. And it is very widespread.

David R.