There are certain words that have recently entered the lexicon that just stick, stubbornly and irritatingly, in my craw. Like "leverage." It doesn't bode well (as far as my approval goes) that this one derives from the financial world. It suffers mightily in my opinion since every time I see it in the business context, it seems to be a euphemism for obtaining something by means that will not bear examination well, or as a cover for the fact the speaker has no idea how to obtain that thing at all. But I almost forgive the word, since when it is applied in everyday situations hilarious mental imagery abounds. As in, "I will leverage you that muffin." I get a picture of the muffin being catapulted to me on a lever... a sort of fat-man-on-a-see-saw deal. Also, "leverage" is slangy, and will probably disappear soon--it's a self-solving problem.
But the one I have not yet found it in my heart to forgive is "gift" as a verb. For instance, I read something yesterday to the effect of "My slight acquaintance gifted my daughter needlessly." Which demonstrates my practical objection: the possibilities for amphiboly* are great. In this construction, it sounds like there was some strange child abduction scenario, but I gather somebody gave a her daughter a gift when no gift was thought of in return.
But my real objection is that it's tool-speak. Somebody wants to sound smart but actually doesn't have a wide-ranging vocabulary, so the simple "gave" is axed for the verbulous "gifted." Just like when my students, desperate to raise the tone, keep repeating "due to" all through their essays even though I tell them "since" or "because" are perfectly acceptable choices. And they're more elegant too, since they won't seem like an intrusive verbal tic.**
I suppose "gift" as a verb is not more tool-ish than "leverage," but I suspect that since it's not really a slang term but a change in use/construction, it will inhabit my craw for a very long time. Future students, beware. I will be permanently grumpy someday, instead of just by fits and starts, I imagine.
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*"Amphiboly"=a grammatical construction that leads to ambiguity, multiple meanings, and is the cause of some of my favorite lame jokes. For example, the classic Groucho Marx line (recalled from memory, so very likely not verbatim), "I shot an elephant in my pajamas. How he got in my pajamas, I will never know."
**Maybe I should tell them I hear them saying, in their nasal mutant Valley girl voices, "I won't be able to hand in my paper due to my dead grandmother" in my sleep. And they should leave off both the "due to" and the dead grandmother before I lose my shit.
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