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#22764 03/14/01 02:06 PM
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Just a note on the continuing decline of the English language in corporate America.

In my company, executives have been groping for years for a word that means 'to encourage by use of incentives.' In other words, a verb to fill in the blank in a sentence like, "We want to [***] our employees to achieve our goals."

But 'encourage' is too weak, since the connotation they're going for is that we're giving people things (key rings, t-shirts, etc.) for doing good work; and 'encourage' seems like a vague pat on the back or a few words.

So 'incent' was tried out for a while, accent on that second syllable, please. "We incent our employees with bonus pay." But the backlash was felt, and the neologism was discarded.

I got a memo yesterday, though, from a manager who was pleased that a particular program was 'incentifying' his employees.

I really dislike both words, but does anyone have an established word that can fill the breach?


#22765 03/14/01 02:17 PM
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Incentivize is one I've heard in common use. "Incentify" sounds like it belongs back on the Don King thread...


#22766 03/14/01 03:28 PM
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i'd probably have simply used "motivate".




#22767 03/14/01 03:29 PM
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My husband's employer also insisted upon "incenting" his employees. Sigh.

How about "motivate?"


#22768 03/14/01 03:31 PM
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LOL... beat ya!!


#22769 03/14/01 03:37 PM
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In reply to:

LOL... beat ya!!





#22770 03/14/01 04:08 PM
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How about inspire?

Perhaps the problem with the management is that they spend so much time twisting the meanings of words they can't recognise a perfectly good and appropriate word when they see it.


#22771 03/14/01 04:24 PM
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I don't agree. This is the well-trodden road of the noun becoming a verb, with a more specific meaning than the existing alternatives.

The noun of an 'incentive' article (gift or other inducement) therefore becomes to incentivize, meaning quite specifically to reward by means of giving this article. IMHO it's not a pretty word. But then few such ~ize formations are! They do seem to serve a need - and that's what surely counts in how language adapts?


#22772 03/14/01 04:34 PM
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R-plussed
from the R+ concept (positive reinforcement)
::sigh::
-joe (nonplussed) friday


#22773 03/14/01 09:35 PM
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How about bribe?


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