Friday, December 11, 2009

Gifting You With Curious Information

This from today's e-Newsletter by Grammar Girl:


giftingPeople have told me they find the verb "gifting" annoying and wonder why others can't use the perfectly good word "giving."

According to the Oxford English Dictionary, "gift" has been used as a verb for 400 years, but it had fallen out of common use until recently when it seems to have experienced a revival. The Seinfeld episode, "The Label Maker," in which Elaine called a minor character a "regifter," along with changes in the tax code that addressed gifting money may have been factors in "gift's" resurgence.  Although it's not technically wrong to say something such as "I'm gifting her a label maker this year," "give" is almost always the less distracting choice.

No comments:

Post a Comment