Gift me a break, indeed
Sigh... Today's Arlo & Janis:
It's certainly Johnson's right to complain about words he doesn't like. But please.
First, "gift" as a verb isn't a "trend" - unless Modern English is a trend. The verb's been around since the early 17th century (as Barry points out), and it's only its overuse by Madison Avenue that threw it into disrespect.
Second, it is nice to have a verb that means "make a gift" - "give" doesn't mean that - you can give things that aren't yours - that aren't anybody's, including the person you "give" them to (like the time of day)- and you can "give" things as a loan, clearly (and rightly) expecting them back.
Third, nobody would ever say "gift me a break", unless they were trying to be funny. (Not actually being funny, of course; just trying.) People don't use "gift" in all senses of "give", or interchangeably with or instead of "give".
Labels: language
1 Comments:
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At 1:12 PM, July 25, 2010
Q. Pheevr had this to say...
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<-- Older Post ^ Home Newer Post -->I don't think Johnson was suggesting that anyone would seriously say "Gift me a break"--quite the reverse, in fact. I think he's using the example to show that there are at least some contexts in which it's obvious that gift cannot replace give, whereas presumably he thinks that any use of gift as a verb can be replaced by give. (Of course, one doesn't have to be a given and talented student to find counterexamples.) Also, he is trying to be funny; it's part of his job description.
I'm actually inclined to agree with the AHD usage note that Barry quoted, which describes gift qua verb as "irredeemably tainted [...] by its association with the language of advertising and publicity." If we really need a verb to carry the meaning of 'to give as a present,' perhaps someone can regale us with one?
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