And a stake through the heart of the tongue. WOW! Didst thou mean that the stake through the heart was the solecism or was there some other referrent there?

All seriousness aside, I have to register my disagreement with your screed. Indeed, the use of gifted as meaning endowed with a special talent is well-settled in the English language. I doubt that even an ignoramus, which I do not consider myself, would be unaware of what it means. And I certainly would use it unreservedly.

Does that make me an ignoramus? I think not.

TEd