Quote:
Originally Posted by Janice D. Soderling
But why, I ask myself, (getting back on track), don't I like it? Apart from small-minded curmudgeonry? I think it is because "I've gifted something to someone", smacks of "bestowing" and in some curious way (in my small mind) draws attention to the giver in a rather self-aggrandizing and ungracious way.
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Nicely put, Janice. But you therefore do acknowledge the fact that the verb "gift" conveys something that the verb "give" by itself does not. That helps to explain why it's been invented - as do the examples Chris has given us (given, rather than gifted, in this case, I would say).
And I reiterate the point that using nouns as verbs is a constant in the English language. Another nice example from Shakespeare, from
Antony and Cleopatra (and certainly not from prose or from a "low" character):
Those hearts that spanielled me at heels...