In the modern, rapidly developing world, a huge number of new words are added daily to the circulation of society. Some words, having become new, immediately become obsolete, having never had time to enter firmly into everyday life. These are various pagers or video cassettes, floppy disks. Keeping up with new ones that have come most often from abroad is not so simple with words. And some of them, like fashion, first leave the human vocabulary, but then return. So it is not surprising if even today not everyone knows what a "present" is. We will try to find out in our article.
What is a "present"?
"Present" (from English Present) - a gift, to give, to present.
Translated from French, the word means "gift", "gift", "offering", "souvenir". Less often acts as an adjective in the meaning of "real", "current"
To begin with, it should be determined that “present” is not a new word, but only came to the Russian language from English. In native Russian, and indeed in the post-Soviet space, it is most often used in the meaning of "gift".
More recently, the word "present" was considered obsolete and humorous. Since it appeared in the Russian language a few centuries ago. And in English, besides him, another designation of a gift is also used - Gift.
Nevertheless, at the present time, in the age of modern technology and the Internet, foreign words are increasingly coming into the vocabulary of the Russian-speaking population, take root and supplant the native names of objects. So in the 21st century the word "present" is gaining more and more popularity and may soon supersede the standard "gift".
How is a present different from a gift?
There is an opinion that these are similar, but still different things. A gift is something big, significant, and a present is not so substantial and conditional. Based on this opinion, we can conclude that the present is a kind of souvenir or conditional gift. For example, it can be a chocolate bar or some kind of trinket. But this is not so, present = gift. It is not in vain that in translation from English the word means just that, and not souvenir products.
When is it appropriate to say "present"
As already mentioned above, a present is a gift. So, this word can be used in all respects in which a person usually mentions a gift. That is, in relation to what they are going to give. It is also possible to use the word "present" in the meaning of "surprise." It would be inappropriate to say “present” to elderly people, but it would be more familiar for them to hear about giving a familiar gift, and not for what it is not clear. So, in order not to be in an awkward situation, it is better not to abuse it and not completely squeeze out its Russian-language counterpart from the lexicon.