That's nice to hear. I had been pretty naive to the euphemism since it seemed to be entirely the wife's family's call (and to an extent the extended family avo

That's nice to hear. I had been pretty naive to the euphemism since it seemed to be entirely the wife's family's call (and to an extent the extended family avoided those conversations guessing that we would be opposed to it, having grown up in the West). I only managed to piece it together when it came to marriages in my immediate family. They just claimed that it was stuff that their daughter would end up needing to buy anyway and for the most part that is how it turned out, but I have also heard plenty of gossiping about how someone's daughter-in-law didn't bring X or Y thing. I still have a few years before I think I'll be ready to deal with relationships, but of course will definitely be making it clear that I have no expectations of 'gifts'.