Regift
Regifting is the act of taking a gift that has been received and giving it to somebody else, sometimes in the guise of a new gift. One example of a formalization of this activity are the white elephant gift exchanges, in which items can be regifted from year to year.
The term originated on an episode of Seinfeld (The Label Maker).[1] In the episode, the character Elaine Benes calls Tim Whatley a "regifter" after he gives Jerry Seinfeld a label-maker that was originally given to Whatley by Elaine, although the practice pre-dates the term substantially.
Several rules of etiquette are proposed in popular media regarding regifting; they include rewrapping the gift, not using the gift before regifting it and not giving the gift back to the original gift-giver.[2] However, a consumer survey indicated that the majority of people regift because they perceive the gift will be appreciated by the receiver, they do not find regifting rude and a significant number do so to save money.[3]
Another variant introduced in Seinfeld is degifting.
Popular culture
- On The Tonight Show, Johnny Carson would frequently joke about the single Christmas fruitcake that was given from one person to another, year after year.
- On the December 18, 2005 Christmas episode of The Simpsons, Professor Frink as one of the Three Wise Men admits to regifting the myrrh he's brought for baby Jesus because "nobody needs myrrh!".
- The Rush Limbaugh Show had a mock advertisement for a fictitious company called Thanks Anyway. The premise was that a person could bring unwanted gifts to their local Thanks Anyway store to have the gift packaged and re-wrapped to give to someone else.
- In the movie Old School, Will Ferrell's character repeatedly attempts to regift an unwanted bread maker.
References
- ^ "Word of the Week", by Kerry Maxwell, MacMillian English Dictionary. Retrieved April 17, 2007.
- ^ 12 rules for 'regifting' without fear, by MP Dunleavey, MSN Money. Retrieved April 17, 2007
- ^ MMI Holiday Credit Card Use Survery Summary 2005, retrieved 2007-Apr-21.
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