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Previous Thread Next Thread Print Thread Page 1 of 3 1 2 3 Does the scent of 'incent' incense you? #143949 06/13/05 11:24 PM Joined: Sep 2000 Posts: 4,757 M maverick OP Carpal Tunnel OP maverick Carpal Tunnel M Joined: Sep 2000 Posts: 4,757 ...''incent is not a verb - heck, it's not even a word.'' Hyperbole, of course, but still, one wonders: Do these scolds really think they get to decide which words live and die? http://www.boston.com/news/globe/ideas/articles/2005/04/03/dissent_on_incent/ Copy Link to Clipboard Share Post on Facebook Share Post on Twitter Re: Does the scent of 'incent' incense you? #143950 06/14/05 12:36 AM Joined: Mar 2001 Posts: 4,189 Rio Grande, Cape May County, N... WhitmanO'Neill Carpal Tunnel WhitmanO'Neill Carpal Tunnel Joined: Mar 2001 Posts: 4,189 Rio Grande, Cape May County, N... I'm not a big fan of incent, and i'm not in the habit of using it. But all language is in constant flux, as I think many former discussions on this board have reached to agree. So, if it's in usage...well, then, it's a word. Copy Link to Clipboard Share Post on Facebook Share Post on Twitter Re: Does the scent of 'incent' incense you? #143951 06/14/05 12:44 AM Joined: Jun 2002 Posts: 7,210 Vermont Buffalo Shrdlu Carpal Tunnel Buffalo Shrdlu Carpal Tunnel Joined: Jun 2002 Posts: 7,210 Vermont what are you trying to start, mav? formerly known as etaoin... Copy Link to Clipboard Share Post on Facebook Share Post on Twitter Re: Does the scent of 'incent' incense you? #143952 06/14/05 01:06 AM Joined: Sep 2000 Posts: 4,757 M maverick OP Carpal Tunnel OP maverick Carpal Tunnel M Joined: Sep 2000 Posts: 4,757 > trying to start moi? eta, how could you suggest such a thing... hehheh, I just thought it was a pretty useful dissection of the knots people get themselves tied in when they invest language with the disproportionate baggage of their social attitudes. and fwiw, I'm no fan of 'incent' either. But I shan't get my knickers in a twist if I hear it said in a context that makes sense - I would probably mark the person as Not One of Us, but! Copy Link to Clipboard Share Post on Facebook Share Post on Twitter Re: Does the scent of 'incent' incense you? #143953 06/14/05 10:07 AM Joined: Dec 2000 Posts: 13,803 Faldage Carpal Tunnel Faldage Carpal Tunnel Joined: Dec 2000 Posts: 13,803 I do wonder sometimes why these little language change matters get some people so riled up. Copy Link to Clipboard Share Post on Facebook Share Post on Twitter Re: Does the scent of 'incent' incense you? #143954 06/14/05 04:59 PM Joined: Nov 2000 Posts: 3,439 New England, USA W wow Carpal Tunnel wow Carpal Tunnel W Joined: Nov 2000 Posts: 3,439 New England, USA Just another whack at that pesky wedge! I consider that the new uses that rile people up are more in the line of peeves. It peeves me when I hear ads about "growing your business," Ah, well. Copy Link to Clipboard Share Post on Facebook Share Post on Twitter Re: Does the scent of 'incent' incense you? #143955 06/15/05 12:40 AM Joined: Sep 2000 Posts: 4,757 M maverick OP Carpal Tunnel OP maverick Carpal Tunnel M Joined: Sep 2000 Posts: 4,757 > why these little language change matters get some people so riled up Well, ifn I know my fine Fong I'll bet this is a largely rhetorical bait, but I'll bite anyway. My guess is that one of the central roles of language is to define a sense of identity and community (see development of slangs and argots), and given this context some people get antsy when they feel somehow threatened by 'their' language being taken away from them by changing custom. If there was one period in history that I would love to visit stealthily for linguistic interest, it would be the period of the Great Vowel Shift in England - it all happened in such a short period of years that such radical changes in the very phonology of the whole language must have been stunningly discombobulating to a lot of people, don't you think? Only of course they would have all hated the word 'discombobulating'... :] Copy Link to Clipboard Share Post on Facebook Share Post on Twitter Re: Does the scent of 'incent' incense you? #143956 06/15/05 01:13 AM Joined: Jul 2003 Posts: 3,230 Te Ika a Maui sjmaxq Carpal Tunnel sjmaxq Carpal Tunnel Joined: Jul 2003 Posts: 3,230 Te Ika a Maui Well, incent incenses me, but not for any of the high-falutin' reasons maverick suggests. The prescriptivist in me is only awakened by words that offend me aesthetically, and incent does a VERY good job of that. It is just plain ugh-er-lee! noho ora mai http://maxqnzs.com/References.html Copy Link to Clipboard Share Post on Facebook Share Post on Twitter Re: Does the scent of 'incent' incense you? #143957 06/15/05 01:46 AM Joined: Sep 2000 Posts: 4,757 M maverick OP Carpal Tunnel OP maverick Carpal Tunnel M Joined: Sep 2000 Posts: 4,757 > words that offend me aesthetically yep, I feel the same. otoh, you then have to scratch a bit deeper to figure out why one usage will feel like fingernails on the blackboard when a similar term may not, nah? Copy Link to Clipboard Share Post on Facebook Share Post on Twitter Re: Does the scent of 'incent' incense you? #143958 06/15/05 01:50 AM Joined: Jun 2002 Posts: 7,210 Vermont Buffalo Shrdlu Carpal Tunnel Buffalo Shrdlu Carpal Tunnel Joined: Jun 2002 Posts: 7,210 Vermont doesn't turb me. formerly known as etaoin... 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