gift that keeps on giving

plural gifts that keep on giving

1. idiomaticSomething with ongoing consequences; usually, one with positive ongoing consequences.

   Those flower bulbs that our neighbor gave us are a gift that keeps on giving — they keep blooming year after year.

   1. idiomaticslangA sexually transmitted disease.

      That one-night stand that some tramp gave him is a gift that keeps on giving — he's had syphilis for years now.

      4 more examples

      She fell for his soulful tenor playing, so she gave him the gift that keeps on giving — the clap.

      2006, Jeannie Cheatham, Meet Me with Your Black Drawers On: My Life in Music, page 130

      Plus, there's about a 25% chance that you now have the gift that keeps on giving, an STD.

      2007, Doug Giles, A Time to Clash: Papers from a Provocative Pastor, page 202

      Maybe I was lucky that we did not get together, who knows, maybe she would have given me the gift that keeps on giving.

      2007, R.H.B. Jackson, Dad and Me, page 462

      “You gave me the gift that keeps on giving!” […] “The old man gave Sebastian herpes!”

      2010, Michael Salvatore, Between Boyfriends, page 184