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'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 calls Dr. 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 don't find regifting rude, and a significant number do so to save money
★ MMI Holiday Credit Card Use Survery Summary 2005, retrieved 2007-Apr-21..
Another variant introduced in Seinfeld is de-gifting.

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Media references

References

External links

Media references

★ 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

1. "Word of the Week", by Kerry Maxwell, ''MacMillian English Dictionary''. Retrieved April 17, 2007.
2. 12 rules for 'regifting' without fear, by MP Dunleavey, ''MSN Money''. Retrieved April 17, 2007

External links

★ ''CNN Money'': Regifting 101

★ ''MSN Money'': 12 rules for 'regifting' without fear

★ ''USA Weekend'': Regifting takes over the galaxy

★ ''Regifting 101''