Date: Thu, 25 Jun 1998 15:01:18 -0400
From: Bob Haas
Subject: Re: "incent"

A. Vine wrote:

> I reject "incent" and I'm not a linguist (sounds like a confession). The
> feeling is too negative to use for the apparently positive purpose for which
it
> seems intended. It is too close to "incense" and "incite", both of which
have
> negative connotations. "Incentive" is a positive word for me, and I wouldn't
> want to dampen that.
>
> Whatever happened to "motivate"?
>

Or we might even "excite" someone or "encourage" a thing

> I concur, "incentivize" is too fiddly and jargon-like for everyday speech.

> I have a lot of trouble understanding "intuit". Intuition is more of a
state;
> that is, one cannot acquire or impart it. What can you "intuit"? Does it
mean
> stating a decision or prediction based on intuition? Pretty lame, especially
> since intuition is not a basis one usually asserts.

For those of us who must have a jargony, bureacraticsh back-formation, why not
go
with "enthuse." The connotations would seem to be much more positive, and it's
in
the dictionary (whichever one you choose). BTW, enthuse might not even be a
back-formation, but it sounds that way. In any case, it would seem to answer
most
of the semantic requirements of "incent" without incensing anyone. --

Bob Haas
University of North Carolina at Greensboro
rahaas[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]hamlet.uncg.edu

"No matter where you go, there you are."