[Ads-l] "Leaders _incent_ people."

[Baker, John]

Are we really asserting that it's a Sign Of The Apocalypse when people say "incent" rather than "incentivize"? "Incent" is the older word; OED dates it to 1844, while "incentivize" it takes back only to 1968.  "Incent" has the advantage of being two syllables shorter.  While both are obviously formations from "incentive," "incent" can be seen as deriving ultimately from L. incentus (past participle of incinere, to play (a tune)), so while it is a back-formation, it's pretty close to the Latin original.  And what could be more logical than saying that one who is incented is played?  

I first heard "incent" in the late 1980s; I don't recall when I first encountered "incentivize," but it was some years earlier.  "Incent" is originally and still primarily business jargon, which no doubt makes it less attractive to most people, but the same can be said of "incentivize."


John Baker




-----Original Message-----
From: American Dialect Society [mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] On Behalf Of Joel Berson
Sent: Saturday, September 05, 2015 7:20 PM
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
Subject: Re: "Leaders _incent_ people."

Today, leaders incense me.

Joel

      From: Wilson Gray <hwgray at GMAIL.COM>
 To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
 Sent: Saturday, September 5, 2015 4:51 PM
 Subject: [ADS-L] "Leaders _incent_ people."
   
"Incentivize" is too long, I reckon.

My first encounter, but there are 864,000 raw hits and it's been recognized by M-W.

Behind the curve, as usual. Part of the ageing process, no doubt.

--
-Wilson
-----
All say, "How hard it is that we have to die!"---a strange complaint to come from the mouths of people who have had to live.
-Mark Twain

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org



------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
   


------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org