#34- 16 Words for Gift Giving & Generosity

Hi there! Welcome to episode #34 of The Real Life English with Gabby Podcast!

In this episode, you'll be learning you 16 unique yet popular slang words, phrasal verbs, and idioms all about gift giving. In American culture, gift giving is very common for special events and if you are currently living in the USA or have American friends or interact with Americans, you’ll probably be giving or receiving gifts from them at some point in the future. For this reason, it’s very important that you learn how to talk about gift giving in English. This episode focuses on holiday gift giving but can be used in any scenario where gifts are exchanged. After listening to this episode and using this Study Guide, you’ll be able to speak about gift giving with CONFIDENCE and be one step closer to speaking English like a native speaker.

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The Study Guide includes: 

• All words and definitions
• Example sentences
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• Transcript

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Transcript

[00:00:00] On this episode of the RealLife English with Gabby podcast, I'll be teaching you 16 phrasal verbs, slang words, and expressions for giving gifts. You'll learn vocabulary like a keepsake, a gag gift, white elephant, Secret Santa, and more. Let's get to it.

Hey there, welcome to the RealLife English with Gabby podcast. I'm your host, Gabby, your fun and friendly English teacher from the one and only New York City. My goal is to teach you phrasal verbs, idioms, and slang that will help you speak English confidently and understand real American conversations.

Are you ready to improve your English skills? Let's jump right in.

Happy December! It's the holiday season here in the USA, and this is the busiest shopping season of the year.

[00:01:00] From Black Friday, which is the day after Thanksgiving, all the way up until January 1st, it is a frenzy—a shopping frenzy. Total chaos when it comes to shopping. December is a month that is full of holidays, and so during this time, it is just non-stop gift-giving.

Of course, the most famous holidays that you know are Christmas Eve and Christmas Day on December 24th and 25th. But there are also many Americans who celebrate Hanukkah and some who celebrate another holiday called Kwanzaa. It's a lesser-known holiday here, but all three of these holidays happen during the month of December. These holidays often stretch for the whole month, with people having parties from the beginning of December until the end of December.

[00:02:00] And so, this is an extremely popular month for people to shop and give gifts. This is the most expensive month of the year. In addition to Christmas, my son's birthday is also in December. So pray for me, guys, because, uh, it's a very expensive month for us.

But anyways, gift-giving in American culture is a very popular thing, and I'm sure it's popular in your culture as well. You know, we give gifts for everything. We have parties for everything—birthdays, weddings, baby showers, graduations. We have something called a housewarming party, where someone buys a house or someone gets a new apartment. We have friends over; we have parties. We have engagement parties. We have gender reveal parties to find out the sex of our baby. We have parties for everything, and we have gift [00:03:00] exchanges for everything as well.

We actually often use gift registries here in the United States so that we know exactly what to get people. You know, there are a lot of different philosophies on gift-giving. And when I talked about this during the episode back in April, around the time of my birthday, I mentioned that there are a lot of different ways that people feel about giving gifts.

Some people, you give them a gift, and they want you to open it in front of them. But then there are some people—there are some cultures—where you give gifts and you don't open them in front of the person. You know, it's a little bit embarrassing.

[00:04:00] So, you know, the culture of gift-giving can be very different. For example, in some countries, it's more common to give money for a wedding or graduation or Lunar New Year or specific religious holidays.

In some cultures, giving money is rude. Here, we love giving gift cards. You know, if my friend loves Starbucks, hey, a $50 gift card to Starbucks! But some people think that's not personal enough—that it's lazy.

Culturally speaking, it can be very sensitive, giving a gift to someone in another culture. We, like I said, use gift registries here. So, for example, my son's birthday is this weekend. I make a list on Amazon of all the things that he likes, and then family and friends just buy things from that list so that he has exactly what he wants.

But, you know, in some cultures, or maybe even some people, they don't like gift registries. They want their gifts to come from them. So, there are all different types of cultures.

[00:05:00] I will say this: my love language is gifts. Unfortunately for my husband, because it's a very expensive love language.

If you've never heard of the love languages—the five love languages before—it basically talks about how people show love. And so, for me, the main way that I show love and feel loved is gifts.

And it doesn't necessarily have to be diamonds, you know. It could be small gifts that are meaningful. For example, I love Harry Potter. One of my students went to Universal Studios and went to Harry Potter World. She brought me back the most adorable Harry Potter mug, and that's one of my favorite things.

[00:06:00] So, you know, gift-giving is a very special thing to some people and in some cultures. And so that's why I wanted to talk about gift-giving today.

Now, this gift-giving episode will have a Christmas holiday spin because it's December. It'll have a little Christmas flavor, but it'll still be effective for any kind of gift-giving.

All right, so let me now share with you new vocabulary words and expressions that you're going to learn in this episode.

We've got grab bag, stocking stuffer, Secret Santa, it's the thought that counts, regift, wrap up, pick out, hand out, white elephant, a gag gift, give away, a small token of appreciation, a keepsake, to shower someone with gifts, to splurge on something, and the gift that keeps on giving.

[00:07:00] Before we get to the story, I just want to remind you that there is a free study guide waiting for you. In this study guide, you'll have the tools that you need to learn everything that you heard in the episode and practice it so that you can speak English with confidence.

The study guide helps you to reinforce all of the vocabulary that you learned in this episode so that your brain can remember these words more easily. You'll be one step closer to speaking English like a native speaker.

To get the study guide, click here. All you have to do is go to the episode description and click on the link. Once you put in your name and email, you'll get a link sent to you that leads you to a folder that has all of the study guides as well as any bonus materials.

[00:08:00] Recently, I started including a bonus material with one or two of the episodes, and that may be happening more in the future. This folder has it all.

Alright, so now that you know how to get the study guide, let's go ahead with the story.
I also wanted to take a minute to thank all of my Spotify listeners. Oh my goodness, I checked my ratings the other day, and I have almost 300 five-star reviews. Thank you so much because when you rate my podcast with five stars, it's more likely to be shared with other people that could benefit from the podcast.
Thank you so much. Now to all of my Apple listeners: see, I use Apple Podcasts personally more than Spotify because I have an iPhone. So, to all of my Apple listeners out there, please come on over and give me a 5-star review. I would love to have a 5-star review.

[00:09:00] Anytime I get 5-star reviews, I read them. And so, thank you in advance for those of you who will give me some reviews on Apple because Apple is a lot slower when it comes to giving reviews. And so, it's a struggle to get reviews over on Apple. Thank you so much in advance.

Alright, so as usual, I wrote a story that has all of the new vocabulary in real-life context.
Listen as I read it. You'll hear the words. Listen to the context that they're used in because this will help you try to figure out the meaning before I even explain. Alright, let's get to it.

It was the weekend before Christmas, and Liam and his friends were all so excited for their annual friend's Christmas party and gift exchange. Everyone was wearing their most festive holiday outfits. The apartment was decorated beautifully, and you [00:10:00] could smell hot cocoa and peppermint throughout the house.

This was their favorite holiday tradition because there was a grab bag, holiday classic movies, delicious snacks, games, and more. In the middle of the floor were a bunch of beautiful gifts that had been wrapped up with beautiful holiday wrapping paper.

"Alright, everyone, it's time for Secret Santa," Liam announced.

First up was Sophia, who handed her gift to Ethan. She had spent weeks trying to pick out something meaningful and finally settled on a leather journal for him since he was a writer. It even had his initials engraved on it.

As Ethan opened it, he smiled. "Wow, this is a real keepsake. Thank you, [00:11:00] Sophia."

Next, Hannah unwrapped a small box containing a pair of fuzzy socks and some chocolates.

"Wow, this is the perfect stocking stuffer," she said. "Whoever picked this, you nailed it."

"I got you something small, but I hope you'll love it," said Ethan as he gave Sophia her gift: a tiny potted plant.

"It's the gift that keeps on giving if you take care of it."

As the exchange continued, Louie admitted that his gift was a re-gift from last year.

"Hey, it's still good," he said, holding up a board game. "Besides, it's the thought that counts."

The real fun began with the white elephant round. Everyone was tasked this year with buying gifts for $25 or less. It was Mia's turn first, and she unwrapped a Harry [00:12:00] Potter mug.

"Yes, this is perfect for my morning coffee," she said.

Liam then opened a gag gift: a singing fish decoration, causing everyone to burst out laughing.

Toward the end of the game, there was a small fight over the gift that no one wanted to give away: a new air fryer.

Every year, it was the host's job to splurge on one gift that would add some drama to White Elephant. Javier ended up winning it this year since he was the last person to go.

Toward the end of the night, Ava handed out small envelopes to each of her friends.

"These are just a small token of appreciation for all of you," she said.

Inside, there were $25 Starbucks gift cards with handwritten notes.

"Wow, Ava, you really splurged on gifts [00:13:00] this year. Thank you."

The night ended with Liam bringing out a tray of cookies he had baked earlier.

"This year, I decided to use my grandma's secret chocolate chip recipe. So enjoy," he said.

The group spent the rest of the evening sharing stories and laughter. By the time everyone left, they had bags full of things to take home since they had all showered each other with gifts and treats.

This tradition wasn't special because of the gifts; instead, it was special because of the beauty that they all shared with each other.

The end.

I wrote this story based on real-life experiences with Secret Santas, Christmas parties, and White Elephant. This story is a very, very common type of party or event that Americans do either with their [00:14:00] friends or at work with co-workers. And I'm going to explain more in detail.

So now that you heard the story, let's review the vocabulary.

First up, we have a grab bag. A grab bag is a specific kind of gift exchange where people pick gifts out of a bag. The original grab bag in the past was where everyone would buy a gift, and they would put the gift in a big bag. Think of a Santa Claus—Papa Noel, as some of you call him—like a big red bag. Everyone puts their hand in, they pick out an item, and that's what they get.

So, grab bags are very, very common. For example, "The holiday party featured a grab bag filled with fun, wrapped presents for everyone to choose from."

Now, let me skip around a little bit. Normally, I explain the vocabulary in the order that it appears in the story, but [00:15:00] I'm going to actually explain Secret Santa and White Elephant because they are two types of grab bags.

So firstly, a Secret Santa is a gift exchange where people randomly select a name, and they have to buy a gift for that person. Secret Santas are very common among friends because you typically don't have enough money to buy everyone a gift. So each person buys one person a gift, and there's usually a price limit.

For example, "We're doing a Secret Santa at work this year, so I need to find a gift for my coworker."

Then we have another type of grab [00:16:00] bag, which is White Elephant. Now, as you heard from the story, White Elephant is a little bit crazy. It's a gift exchange or a grab bag where you receive funny gifts, and then you swap them or change them. At a White Elephant event, everyone brings a gift. Now, some gifts could be really cool, like a nice mug or an air fryer, which you heard about. And some gifts can be what we call gag gifts, which is another word. A gag gift is a gift that was given just to be funny. A gag is like a joke. So a gag gift is a gift that you give, and it's ridiculous. It's meant to just be funny. It's not really meant to be useful or meaningful.

So, in a White Elephant [00:17:00] game, some people will bring cool gifts, and some people will bring gag gifts. Here's how the game works: Everyone picks a number. So, if there are ten people, you write the numbers one through ten on a little piece of paper, and each person picks a number.

The number one, nobody wants to get, because here's what happens. You pick a gift from a bag, and all the people after you can steal that gift. So, number one, you pick the gift; you keep it. Number two picks a gift, opens it, and has two options. They can either keep the gift, or they can steal the gifts of other people.

In the story, it says that Javier won the air fryer, which was the best gift, because he was number ten. He was the last person to go, so he had the option to steal everyone else's gift. So that's why White Elephant gets [00:18:00] really crazy, because you're just stealing other people's gifts.

Alright, next up, we have to wrap up. This is a phrasal verb, and it means to cover a gift with wrapping paper. So, you have a gift, you want to put paper over it to hide the gift. We call that wrap up. I need to wrap up these presents before my family arrives.

Now, some of you listening may realize, "Hey, I've heard wrap up used in a different context," and yes, the phrasal verb wrap up also means to finish something. For example, "Okay, guys, it's five o'clock. We need to wrap this up and go home."

Next up, we have pick out. Pick out means to choose or select something. This is a very, very common phrasal verb. We typically say pick out clothes, like "I needed to [00:19:00] pick out an outfit for the party." But in the context of the story, people were picking out numbers for the White Elephant, or they were picking out a gift.

For example, "It took me a long time to pick out the perfect gift for my mom."

Next up, we have the word keepsake. This is a noun. A keepsake is an item that is kept as a reminder of something else, typically of a person or event. For example, many people have jewelry that was given to them by a grandmother, grandfather, mother, father, aunt, or uncle. That item will always be special to you.

For example, "I have a gold nameplate. It's a gold bracelet, and it has my name on it, and I got it as a baby. I got it from my grandmother. That is a keepsake. It's something that even though I [00:20:00] won't wear it now, it's a reminder of my grandmother. So it's a very special item or gift.

It's not just for gifts. It could also be maybe your grandfather owned a special pen or something else, and when he passed away, you kept that as a reminder of him. For example, "This beautiful ring was a keepsake from my grandma."

Next up, we have a stocking stuffer. This is also a noun. First, let's talk about the word stocking. In the context of Christmas, a stocking is like a big red sock. It's very common in American culture, maybe your culture as well. We hang these stockings by our fireplace, or we hang these stockings up in our house somewhere, and then we put gifts inside, which are called stocking stuffers because they stuff or fill the stocking.

A stocking [00:21:00] stuffer is a small, usually inexpensive gift that's placed in a stocking. And so, it's normally a tradition for families, on Christmas morning, we open up our stocking stuffers before we open up the big gifts. Candy and keychains make the perfect stocking stuffers for kids, for example.

Next up, we have the expression or idiom, the gift that keeps on giving. You may know that the phrasal verb, keep on, means to continue. So the gift that keeps on giving is an expression for something that continues to give value or enjoyment over time.

So maybe someone gives you chocolates as a gift. That's not the gift that keeps on giving because you have it one time. But let's say someone gives you a little [00:22:00] avocado plant. That's a gift that keeps on giving because it's going to grow avocados that you can continue to use.

For example, "The coffee subscription that my parents gave me is the gift that keeps on giving."

Next up, we have the word re-gift. This is a verb. And to re-gift is to gift again, essentially. Re is a prefix that means again. So this means to take a gift that someone gave you and give it to someone else.

So imagine that someone gave you a gift, okay? Imagine that someone gave you a gift that you don't like. Let's say they gave you a mug or a cup that you don't like. When it comes time for you to have a Secret Santa or White Elephant, you can bring that gift and give it to someone else.

[00:23:00] Typically, re-gifting is frowned upon, meaning it's not a good thing to do, but people do it, and most of the time, you'll never know.

For example, "I decided to re-gift the candle I got last year since I don't like the smell."

Next up, we have the expression, It's the thought that counts. This is a very common expression that emphasizes the fact that the intention behind a gift is more important than the gift itself.

So, I want you to imagine that your grandma, grandpa, or relative doesn’t have a lot of money. But for Christmas, they give you an envelope that has $10.

Even though it's a small gift, it's the thought behind the gift. It was their intention, their kindness, that matters more than the gift itself.

So, some people say that if someone gives you a gift, [00:24:00] even if you don't like it, the fact that they gave you a gift is more important than what they actually gave you.

Sometimes, if someone gives you a gift you don't like, and you tell your mom, "Oh, I don't like this gift," she'll say, "Oh, well, it's the thought that counts. They gave you a nice gift. Just enjoy it."

Here's an example sentence: "Even though the gift was small, I loved it because it's the thought that counts."

Next up, we have the phrasal verb to give away. This means to distribute something or hand something over for free.

For example, "They're planning to give away free books at the library's holiday event."

Next up, we have the expression a small token of appreciation. A small token of appreciation is a little gift or a gesture, meaning a kind act that we do to someone to express [00:25:00] gratitude or to recognize them for something.

The most important thing here is that we give something in order to appreciate someone else.

For example, "The boss gave each employee a small token of appreciation for their hard work."

Next up, we have the phrasal verb hand out. Hand out is a phrasal verb that means to distribute something to a group of people. This is also similar to give out. So your teacher hands out or gives out the test, and then you take it from them and complete it at your desk.

For example, "She handed out envelopes with holiday bonuses to all of her employees."

Next up, we have [00:26:00] the phrasal verb splurge on. We can also just use this as a verb and say to splurge. This means to spend a lot of money on something, often as a treat.

So imagine that normally, you are a very smart spender. You don't buy things that are too expensive, but for your birthday, you decide to splurge on a new outfit that costs over $100, for example.

For example, "I decided to splurge on a designer handbag for my birthday."

Lastly, we have the expression to shower someone with gifts. To shower someone with gifts means to give someone a large number of presents as a way of showing love, appreciation, or affection.

For example, [00:27:00] "In the USA, when a woman is expecting a baby, we give her a baby shower. When a woman is getting married, we give her a bridal shower. The shower here represents a lot of love, gifts, and money."

So, to shower someone with gifts means you're giving them a large amount of presents, gift cards, or cash because you love them.

For example, "My grandparents loved to shower us with presents during the holiday season."

Well, there you have it. Now, you know how to talk about gift-giving in the USA.

For homework, I want you to go out and use at least three to four words that you learned in this episode.

Well, that's a [00:28:00] wrap for today's episode of the Real Life English with Gabby podcast. Be sure to download today's study guide so that you can learn how to use this vocabulary confidently. If you enjoyed this episode, don't forget to subscribe for more weekly adventures in English learning. Also, I'd love to hear from you, so please leave me a review.

Thanks so much for tuning in.