REGIFTING
ARE
YOU
ABOUT
TO
GIVE
SOMEONE
A GIFT
SOMEONE
ELSE GAVE YOU?
YOUR READER INTERPRETS THE CARDS INTO LANGUAGE
We all use language. It is powerful.
Several blogs ago, we listed the incredible 13 most-requested words and phrases for translation.
Now we will take another look at language. It is how we make order out of chaos (Remember the Bible ... first there was chaos, then there was the Word"? It is also how we shape our world. Words give us power over our people and world. Remember the almighty "NO!" the first time your toddler learned i.
A little history ...
Do you know what the word "segregation" means? A massive social and cultural upheaval took place when the word "integration" was born?
Were you around when everything you read referred to the male gender.
Quotes were: Let he who is without sin cast the first stone.
If a person wanted to be a lay reader "he should speak to Father John."
There were no female doctors, lawyers, ministers. She was not used unless it specifically referred to a woman.
A massive social and cultural upheaval took place when women began to demand that SHE and HER be added to the English vocabulary, and for the generic. We went through a stage of: (s)he and she/he, and "where it says "he" it should be construed to mean "she" as well, and sometimes we alternate, and sometimes use words like "an individual" It's awkward. This one has been a long, long journey for the USA and Western World.
Then in the 80s the divorce rate started rising. Suddenly we had people we had been married to and no longer were (and their parents), and then we remarried and had kids from both parents and we had ...??? A massive social and cultural upheaval lacked language, and we invented and began to use the words "ex" and "step-parent" and "blended family" and "single parent."
BTW in 1985, my friend (who was a single parent at the time) tells me that there was a Family Group at her Church, and she and her daughters were not allowed to join it. They were told "You are not a family."
Ouch!
So here is a new one. Get ready for this one. It's a sign of the times, the long and bending back of etiquette, the generational gaps, and of the hard economic times. It's ... unbelievable.
There is now a word: regifting. There is even a website called regiftable.com.
"Re-gifting: It's not so taboo," is the article in the Keller Citizen, where they quote a communication specialist with Money Management International who says, "More and more peple are considering all their options in gift-giving, and re-gifting is gaining popularity in that." (She needs to work on her grammar.)
And of course the most obvious thing to re-gift is a gift-card. This is giant step away from knitting a sweater for you son for Christmas!
There are tips, like be sure and change the wrapping paper, and don't give it to someone who might know the someone who gave it to you.
Well, since I got a huge ham from one of the corporations I consult for and (1) don't like ham that much, and (2) it's only me, I gave it to my son. I'll admit to having done it with other things. I do, as they 'recommend,' suit the re-gift to the re-cipient. is that usually I don't act like it's a gift, I say, "I got this and blah blah and thought you might like it/could use it."
However once I have gotten a sweater or something from my side of the family that I knew I would never wear, but that my mother-in-law would love, so I wrapped it up again and gave it to her. Call me a Re-Gifter.
Just do it with taste!
P.S. I just did spellcheck. It does not recognize "gifter" or "re-gifter." There you have it.
We all use language. It is powerful.
Several blogs ago, we listed the incredible 13 most-requested words and phrases for translation.
Now we will take another look at language. It is how we make order out of chaos (Remember the Bible ... first there was chaos, then there was the Word"? It is also how we shape our world. Words give us power over our people and world. Remember the almighty "NO!" the first time your toddler learned i.
A little history ...
Do you know what the word "segregation" means? A massive social and cultural upheaval took place when the word "integration" was born?
Were you around when everything you read referred to the male gender.
Quotes were: Let he who is without sin cast the first stone.
If a person wanted to be a lay reader "he should speak to Father John."
There were no female doctors, lawyers, ministers. She was not used unless it specifically referred to a woman.
A massive social and cultural upheaval took place when women began to demand that SHE and HER be added to the English vocabulary, and for the generic. We went through a stage of: (s)he and she/he, and "where it says "he" it should be construed to mean "she" as well, and sometimes we alternate, and sometimes use words like "an individual" It's awkward. This one has been a long, long journey for the USA and Western World.
Then in the 80s the divorce rate started rising. Suddenly we had people we had been married to and no longer were (and their parents), and then we remarried and had kids from both parents and we had ...??? A massive social and cultural upheaval lacked language, and we invented and began to use the words "ex" and "step-parent" and "blended family" and "single parent."
BTW in 1985, my friend (who was a single parent at the time) tells me that there was a Family Group at her Church, and she and her daughters were not allowed to join it. They were told "You are not a family."
Ouch!
So here is a new one. Get ready for this one. It's a sign of the times, the long and bending back of etiquette, the generational gaps, and of the hard economic times. It's ... unbelievable.
There is now a word: regifting. There is even a website called regiftable.com.
"Re-gifting: It's not so taboo," is the article in the Keller Citizen, where they quote a communication specialist with Money Management International who says, "More and more peple are considering all their options in gift-giving, and re-gifting is gaining popularity in that." (She needs to work on her grammar.)
And of course the most obvious thing to re-gift is a gift-card. This is giant step away from knitting a sweater for you son for Christmas!
There are tips, like be sure and change the wrapping paper, and don't give it to someone who might know the someone who gave it to you.
Well, since I got a huge ham from one of the corporations I consult for and (1) don't like ham that much, and (2) it's only me, I gave it to my son. I'll admit to having done it with other things. I do, as they 'recommend,' suit the re-gift to the re-cipient. is that usually I don't act like it's a gift, I say, "I got this and blah blah and thought you might like it/could use it."
However once I have gotten a sweater or something from my side of the family that I knew I would never wear, but that my mother-in-law would love, so I wrapped it up again and gave it to her. Call me a Re-Gifter.
Just do it with taste!
P.S. I just did spellcheck. It does not recognize "gifter" or "re-gifter." There you have it.
Email me for a free mini-reading: sdunn@susandunn.cc .
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