- By Jim Evans
- Entertainment
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SMART TALK
by Dr. Shirley Glibb
FREE GIFT: In spite of our corps of comedians, we at the Institute for the Linguistically Impaired still see and hear free gift in ads. We though entertainment could be a good teaching tool, as in “Why does it say free gift!? If it’s a gift, it better be free!”
Another type of comic might say, “The ad said free gift, and I didn’t sleep that night. Free gift, especially with that exclamation point, implies that gifts usually cost me. Now I’m expecting a bill for my birthday presents.”
Normally intelligent humans seem to be getting the point, but ad agencies, especially the low end companies, apparently hire some other type of person.
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