"Take a test drive and receive a free gift", read the ad. "Try our product for 30 days and we'll give you a free gift", barked the infomercial. "Thanks for stopping by our kiosk," said the sales associate. "Here's your free gift."
I am an admitted word maven. I love language -- when it's used correctly. When it's not, my built-in annoyance meter goes into overdrive -- and that's been happening frequently of late.
Expressions like "join together" and "continue on" make my jaw clench. They're redundant, repetitive and say the same thing. Is there any other way to join but together? If we don't continue on aren't we going back?
These and numerous others push me to the edge. But "free gift" leaves me teetering on the brink. The very nature of a gift is free to those who receive it. Did the Magi tell Joseph and Mary they brought a free gift of myrrh for the kid? Did the Trojans say anything about that giant gift horse being free. And think of Santa Claus. He's the master of gifts, but have you ever heard any Christmas carol mention free ones.
Unfortunately, the "free gift" concept has become a solid part of the Madison Avenue lexicon. Perhaps they're just trying to help us distinguish between all those pesky gifts we have to pay for.
1 comment:
This is true. I keep trying to teach my kids that a free offer is usually BS and that you'll end up having to give email or address/phone and then you'll be on a mailing list or email list and get tons of junk mail and it will never stop. It's not worth the free gift, never is. You do get what you pay for.
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