Change "Sponsor a User" to "Be a Gift Fairy"

[softestbullet]

Title:
Change "Sponsor a User" to "Be a Gift Fairy"

Area:
gifts

Summary:
"Sponsor a User" has some negative connotations of corporate sponsorship. "Be a Gift Fairy," or something similar, avoids them.

Description:
When I see "Sponsor a User," I think of companies buying communities to promote their new movie, or ads on personal journals -- the kind of thing that made me leave Livejournal for Dreamwidth. Obviously, that's not happening here, but I think a name change would make that clearer.

Also, there's gonna be a user called the gift fairy for anonymous gifts, right? This would cut down on any confusion about that.

I like how <user name=willow> puts it (here: http://dw-suggestions.dreamwidth.org/76042.html): "['Be A Gift Fairy'] hints at doing random acts of kindness to random individuals - good flowing in both directions, joy one way, possibly good 'karma' (for lack of another term) going the other."

DRAWBACKS:

The kind of people who think some of Dreamwidth's terminology is too cutesy would probably find this annoying as well.

Poll #1072 Change "Sponsor a User" to "Be a Gift Fairy"

Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 57

View Respondents

This suggestion:

View Answers

Should be implemented as-is.
5 (8.8%)

Should be implemented with changes. (please comment)
39 (68.4%)

Shouldn't be implemented.
6 (10.5%)

(I have no opinion)
6 (10.5%)

(Other: please comment)
1 (1.8%)

Comments

[denise]

I think that's kinda too cutesy for my taste, but what about "Gift a Random User" if the problem is the use of the word 'sponsor'?

[softestbullet]

I'd like that too!

[cesy]

"Gift a Random User" sounds better to me, too.

[pseudomonas]

+1

[the_shoshanna]

Excellent solution. I winced at "Be a Gift Fairy" too, and I've never found DW's existing terminology too cutesy, so I wasn't predisposed to wincing.

[queenbarwench]

+1

[kerravonsen]

+1

[to_love_a_rose]

+1

[kyrielle]

+1

[turlough]

+1

[ratcreature]

Yes. I can see "sponsor" is maybe not the best but I don't want to be a "gift fairy" either. So something neutral would be good.

[inarticulate]

This is my favorite version.

[instantramen]

Sounds good to me!

[bethbethbeth]

+1

[cheyinka]

I like this. (Switching vote from 'noooooo' to 'with changes'.)

[rainbow]

+1

[ilyena_sylph]

+1

[melannen]

+1

[adalger]

I, for one, disagree with this. Gift is not a verb. :(

(Sorry for the pedantic grammarian mindset, but there it is.)

[pseudomonas]

The OED's citations for this show examples for this sense of "gift" over the last 400+ years. My other dictionaries also list this sense.

Searching Project Gutenberg for examples comes up with the rather lovely:Now when Al-Mihrjan heard these words of the Sages and the Star-gazers he gifted and largessed them and he freed the captives in prison mewed and he clothed the widows and the poor and nude.(context)

(BTW, I'm not having a go at you, I just like words and your comment got me interested)

[adalger]

Out of curiosity, do these dictionaries also list "largesse" as being usable as a verb?

(I certainly respect the motive of seeing an interesting debate and having the urge to take up a side. I do it myself fairly often. No offense taken. :) )

[pseudomonas]

The OED doesn't, no. (note that it talks about what's used, not what's usable, taking a firmly descriptivist approach).
There aren't lots of google hits for "he largessed", and most of them seem to be Burton, who was evidently very fond of the turn of phrase, using it all over the place :) I quite like it.

[adalger]

I like it too, but it weakens his value as a citation for "gifted" as a verb. I'm afraid, though, that the language has moved on without me, and I'm the old man sitting on the porch with a lexical shotgun, watching the communicative traffic with sour disapproval and shouting at the slang to "GET OFF MY LAWN!"

[triadruid]

Adding to the chorus. This is a much clearer name for the process, and avoids the dreaded CuteOverload.

[archangelbeth]

I like "Gift a Random User" too. (Even though I don't mind Gift Fairy at the moment, either. *grin*)

[angelikitten]

+eleventy

[cesy]

I don't think there's going to be a user called the gift fairy for anonymous gifts. Can you remember where you heard that? Are you getting mixed up with paidaccountfairy?

[softestbullet]

Oh, shoot. I don't remember. D: That's certainly possible!

[yvi]

I wouldn't like "Be a Gift Fairy", the phrasing just doesn't suit the site for me. I know we called it "Paid Account Fairy" in development, but for the link I'd rather have something a bit more business-y ;)

[azurelunatic]

It does sound a bit twee/camp, yes.

[owl]

"Be a Gift Fairy" sounds twee to me, but I have no problem switching away from "Sponsor".