Indian giver
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Look up Indian giving in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. |
Indian giver is an expression used to describe a person who gives a gift (literal or figurative) and later wants it back, or something equivalent in return.
The term "Indian gift" was first noted in 1765 by Thomas Hutchinson, and "Indian giver" was first cited in John Russell Bartlett's Dictionary of Americanisms (1860) as "Indian giver.[1][2] When an Indian gives any thing, he expects to receive an equivalent, or to have his gift returned." Thus it was really an exchange of gifts and not a matter of selflessness.
The phrase can be considered offensive, particularly to American Indians.[3][4]
[edit] Etymology
It is unclear exactly how the expression came to be, but the consensus is that it is based on American Indians having a distinctly different sense of property ownership than people of European ancestry.[citation needed] One theory is that early European settlers in North America misinterpreted the aid and goods they received from local Indians as gifts, when in fact they were intended to be offered in trade. Many tribes operated economically by a form of barter system, or a gift economy, where reciprocal giving was practiced.[5]
[edit] Sources
- ^ [1], "An Indian gift is a proverbial expression, signifying a present for which an equivalent return is expected." (Thomas Hutchinson, "History of Massachusetts Bay," 2165).
- ^ [2], The OED's earliest citation for "Indian giver" is John Russell Bartlett's Dictionary of Americanisms (1860)
- ^ "indian giver - Definition from the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary". http://mw1.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/indian%20giver.
- ^ Editors of the American Heritage Dictionaries (2006). The American Heritage dictionary of the English language. Boston: Houghton Mifflin. ISBN 0-618-70172-9. "Indian giver n. Offensive: One who gives something to another and then takes or demands it back."
- ^ "Indian giver". http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/202850.html.
