What do the "red text" properties on weapons mean?

I've found two weapons so far that have some red text in the properties box. One was a revolver that said "I am free now". Another was a sniper rifle that said "I can see my house from here." I believe I got them both as bonus rewards for the assassin quest in Southpaw Steam and Power. I assume they won't be the only weapons in the game with properties that are in red text, though.

Do these properties actually do anything like give hidden bonuses to the weapon, or are they essentially just some flavor text?

Solution 1:

Though the list is as of this writing incomplete, there is a long list of the red texts and what many of them mean on Wikia.

That page is bizarrely hard to find in the wiki's navigation menu, and Google seems not to have found it yet either, but it exists.

The two you specifically asked about:

• I can see my house from here. - Increased zoom level (Quest reward)
• I am free now - Additional critical hit damage (Dropped by Assassin Oney)

Solution 2:

In the previous Borderlands, red text indicated an additional bonus that was given in the form of a riddle. Some of them are more obvious than others.

"I can see my house from here," probably has a long range scope. "I am free now," is theorized to have extra critical damage.

Solution 3:

These lines indicate a certain effect inherent to the gun. The text itself often gives a hint of what that special ability does. Sometimes the description relates to the boss or enemy who dropped the weapon.

If you're having a problem finding out what special ability your red-text weapon has, try searching on the internet for it or ask a new question about red-text you are interested into on Arqade.

Sources:Borderlands Wiki,Gearbox Forum