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APRForReddit t1_j0zcrog wrote

Reply to comment by dovahkiitten16 in I wrapped our white elephant gifts in the shape of toilet and a giant plunger. by LeftClique

It’s called a gift exchange….

White elephant refers to the story of the Thai king giving people he didn’t like white elephants. They weren’t allowed to decline or get rid of the gift, and taking care of an elephant would bankrupt them.

That’s why it’s called white elephant. It’s about shitty gifts

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DoofusMagnus t1_j106fid wrote

Things can evolve beyond the origin of their names.

In the part you quoted you even demonstrate that the activity has names other than White Elephant. By your logic, can Yankee Swaps only be done by people in the northern US?

"Gift exchange" could describe any number of things, from a standard everyone-buys-soemthing-for-everyone-else, to Secret Santa, to White Elephant/Yankee Swap. Have you seen "gift exchange" used anywhere to specifically refer to a game of White Elephant done with non-shitty gifts?

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