Verbing nouns weirds language.
@allyphoe, that Calvin strip gets a lot of mileage in our house, too.
To me, “free gift” is a lot more nails-on-a-blackboard than the casual spread of “gifting,” but I know everybody’s got different nightmares.
Yes, it’s a word.
Commentating is more specific than commenting in that the former requires that the person is speaking about an event as it occurs.
That’s how I think of it when it is used as a verb.
“Verbing nouns weirds language.”
As does nouning verbs, as in “I’ll send you an invite to go with me to watch the commentator commentate.”
“And this is what makes “gifting” so implicitly pernicious. This is why it makes me, intuitively, cringe. It is marketingspeak that has made its way into the commercial vernacular. Gift-as-verb, according to the Oxford English Dictionary, has been around since the 17th century; it’s derived, like “gift”-as-noun, from the Old English “asgift,” meaning “payment for a wife” in the singular and “wedding” in the plural.” --“The Atlantic”: ‘Gift is Not a Verb’
I don’t know about anyone else. After I “gift” (Lol) some of my money to a business with a purchase of a good or service. They hand me said purchase and my change or receipt.
I say “thank you”. 100 percent of time, l get “no problem”.
Why would I think it was problem to be a paying customer?
Did I interrupt some important meeting or plans? It can be buying coffee, gas clothes, a car or anything. It’s always the same response to a “thank you” is the obligatory “no problem”
When did “you’re welcome” not be the correct reply to a Thank you.
I’m getting grumpy.
Oh this is one of my pet peeves!!! I work with one organization whose ED is constantly saying “we were gifted 50 new computers!”
What happened to “given”??
“I say “thank you”. 100 percent of time, l get “no problelem” Why would I think it was problem to be a paying customer?”
Why wouldn’t I think I’d be welcome to what I asked for since I am a paying customer? So why isn’t “you’re welcome” equally silly??
Because I said thank you. When would the term you’re welcome ever apply. It’s called manners. No problem assumes I perhaps inconvenienced you.
@privatebanker You’re welcome would apply at the same time as “no problem” …when someone has done you a favor not when you are a paying customer. My point is that one could complain about ‘ you’re welcome” too. It assumes I might not be welcome to ask for the thing I paid you for.
The better response to “Thank you” in a transactional situation in my opinion is “Of course!” Or “My pleasure”
@surfcity
The ED is actually using the word correctly, although as the head of a nonprofit myself I wouldn’t use “gifted” because to me it sounds pretentious.
verb:
- give (something) as a gift, especially formally or as a donation or bequest.
“the company gifted 2,999 shares to a charity”
@maya54 I love it. My pleasure. Or “of course”. Those are perfect.
I can’t imagine saying no problem after a client thanks me for something. I thought you’re welcome was good. But my pleasure is perfect.
Let’s start a trend.
But I challenge anyone to count how many times during the next week someone says no problem to you. It’s astonishing. And in many cultures would be incredibly frowned upon.
But back to the gifting or a gift or giving debate. lol !
In trust and estate work it is accepted practice to discuss “gifting strategies”
Yes, language evolves, but historically, new words have arisen to describe new ideas. “Gifting” when “giving” would suffice is just silly. We need to, um, curate our new word lists.
(Ducks, hides)
@privatebanker With clients I sometimes counter a “ thank you’ with “Thank YOU for the opportunity “
When given the “no problem” response, I often ask some variation of “why would you imply that you serving me might have been a problem?”, which is typically met with befuddlement which, of course, annoys me even further.
Kids today…
That sounds like an excessively legalistic response to what was meant to be a conventional polite acknowledgment of a polite thanks.
“No problem” isn’t my favorite, but it is close enough to the Spanish “de nada” or French “de rein” or “pa de quoi” that it doesn’t seem uniquely American or rude. “My pleasure” would be a nice obsequious response from someone in the service business.
But gifting outside of a will or trust grates. You don’t need my permission to use it, but you won’t get it. You can impact your alma mater’s endowment in any way you like.
I believe, the original British response is “Not at all”.