Yes, I know it’s always been a verb, just it seems so trendy these days. Don’t know why it annoys me so… but I do detest it! Without being unkind, it seems to be an attempt to be overtly classy (or, snobby?!). What’s wrong with just saying ‘give’ or ‘gave’? Donate? Bestow? Endow?
How (and, why) does this happen? An example of our language evolving?
Ha! Sounds like I need to get a life!
Estate planning attorneys and accountants have been using this word as a verb for quite a while to avoid using lengthy qualifiers and explanations that whatever was given away was indeed given irrevocably, without any strings attached.
Language evolves. That’s why google and tweet are also verbs
I bet that there are at least 50 people who would like to substitute the word “gift” for “bribe”.
@rutgersmamma I give, gave, and have given, and think “gifting” is the kind of thing you’d expect to hear from someone who says “between you and I.” But language changes, I don’t fight it, but will continue giving my all.
To me, ‘gift’ implies an estate planning or tax move. To give, implies a present or a donation usually of lesser value.
I ‘give’ a Christmas present. I ‘gift’ $12,000 per year as part of an estate plan.
“Gift” lacks a quid pro quo.
“Donate” suggests something that is tax deductible.
“Endow” suggests gift with a designated purpose.
“Bestow” seems more like an estate planning term.
“Gifted” as in “Don’t look a gifted horse in the mouth” is grammatically correct. “Between you and I”, “I should have went” and the likes are not.
I used to work overseas with executives who used English as a second language professionally and wanted personal instruction to improve their (already high-level) language skills. One of my students asked me to explain how “gifted” funtioned as a verb. I offered an explanation that GIFT was a noun, GIFTED was an adjective, and neither could be used correctly as a verb.
This was around 1983 or '84. Auuuugh! I am constantly chagrined to hear this particular instance of language change. I still wonder if I provided a sound answer to that student… or if he had heard and noticed the evolution of GIFT into a verb before I did.
So to the OP’s question, I’d say 1983 or '84.
I wonder the same thing about “disincentivize”
@rutgersmamma I get the annoyance because I feel it, too, and yes, I know that language evolves. Some others that irritate me are ‘growing the economy’ and ‘based off of’. Growing should only relate to living things. And what happened to based on?!
Oh, and one more. The word anyway was just fine for a very long time without the added S.
I also feel your pain! I see nothing wrong with saying, “Mr. Jones gave XYZ University 2 million dollars.” Not: “We were gifted a case of lovely wine.” Others have noticed:
https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/gift-as-a-verb
https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2014/12/gifting-is-not-a-verb/383676/
According to Merriam-Webster it’s been used as a verb for over 400 years! https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/gift-as-a-verb They postulate the current popularity might stem from a Seinfeld episode about regifting unwanted presents.
@Le Professionnel—the only “gifted” horse I knew was Mr Ed.
Gifted and talented (GT) has been a designation in public schools at least a few decades. It tends to sadly offer worse teachers than the regular ones, unfortunately. It’s an adjective in GT.
@gouf78 While both Merriam-Webster and Oxford Dictionary equate “gifted” with “talented”, the variant of the proverb I mentioned is recognized, albeit less frequently: https://books.google.com/books?id=n27YAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA31&lpg=PA31&dq=%22gifted+horse%22+in+the+mouth&source=bl&ots=NDAMUBaDtv&sig=ACfU3U3s7KA9f2E84BIVPeHgINEzlDHf4Q&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjVpr7BpcvhAhVNIqwKHb1sCYk4KBDoATAHegQICRAB#v=onepage&q=%22gifted%20horse%22%20in%20the%20mouth&f=false (published in 1818) 
I’m an attorney, and I use “gift” as a verb because it has a specific meaning in property and tax law. Why other people use it? I have no idea.
Right. Also an attorney. I use it in the estate planning context because “gift” is a specific category of transfer under federal tax laws, with a set of technical definitions and specific tax consequences that may be desired or feared, depending on the context. “Gift” is distinct from other types of transfers (such as “sale” or “exchange” or “support”). “Give” is a common-language term with a broad range of meanings. I can give you some merchandise in exchange for $20. I can give you love. I can give my children a good education by paying their college tuitions. None of those things would be described as something I “gifted.”
That said, I have to acknowledge the Seinfeld “Re-Gifting” episode as something that seemed to change the language immediately. I had never heard that term before it aired, and I haven’t stopped hearing it since. And I suppose once people are talking about “re-gifting,” there’s a good likelihood they will start describing the first action in a chain of such transactions as “gifting.” I don’t, though.
While we’re at it, why are sports announcers “commentators” rather than simply “commenters”? After all, they’re commenting on what they see, aren’t they? Or are they commentating, and is that even a word?
When did “ask” become a noun and not a verb?
“What are our key asks here?”, you might hear in a meeting.
What happened to “request”?