A gift is something that is given.
A gift is something that is given without asking for anything in return. Generally, it is some object that a person gives to another with the intention of congratulating, entertaining or honoring them .
For example: “My mother bought me a jacket as a birthday gift,” “Did you like the gift that Aunt Pamela gave you?” , “We have to go to the appliance store to choose the wedding gift for Luis and María.”
Characteristics of a gift
Gifts (also known as presents or presents ), despite being material, attempt to convey a message of love or respect. When a friend buys a gift for another and gives it to them on their birthday, their goal is to make them feel loved and recognized. Sometimes, however, gifts are given out of custom or social obligation , without any feeling behind them.
Giving a good gift is usually difficult for most people, even for those who know those they wish to honor very well. There are many sources of advice to find the perfect gift, but nothing beats closeness, the legitimate knowledge of the other and their tastes, their needs , their preferences, something that should exist first before reaching the point of deciding. buy him a gift.
It is worth mentioning that the gift, sometimes, is a symbol that the market takes advantage of to enhance the presence of machismo in society : for example, there are toys for boys (such as soccer balls) and for girls (such as dolls), and it is frowned upon to ignore this distinction.
On special dates, such as Valentine's Day, it is common for gifts to be given to loved ones.
A marketing strategy
In commerce , a gift is something that the seller or the person who offers a service gives to a buyer or client without asking for money , at least directly. This means that the gift breaks with the logic of exchanging a product or service for money. It is common for gifts to be given within the framework of a promotion or offer and, in one way or another, generate a profit for the seller. A common case is that a store offers two products for the price of one: the buyer, in this way, buys one product and takes another as a gift.
The greater the offer of similar products or services, the promise of a gift as compensation for choosing one company over the others becomes more frequent and, why not, necessary for success . Nowadays, since certain products have digital versions, these gifts represent a smaller expense than a couple of decades ago. This practice is very common in the field of video games, music and cinema, three types of content that can be consumed from any electronic device over the Internet.
The gift as something symbolic
At a symbolic level, a gift is a positive situation that an individual experiences casually, through the action of another person or even through what can be defined as destiny or providence: “Having shared these days with my parents was a gift of God” , “Life gave me the best gift I could hope for: a new opportunity” .
In this context, the gift can be conceived as something that one deserves and that, for example, has been waiting for a long time to happen to one, or as a very valuable and rare opportunity that only very lucky people receive. To cite an example of each situation, let's say that the first could be a job after months of hardship and the second, a chance event that prevents someone from dying in a terrible accident in which the rest of the people involved have been involved. loss of life, such as the fall of a plane or the collapse of a building.