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Re: I had to say it because I was afraid no one else would
Subject:Re: I had to say it because I was afraid no one else would From:"Downing, David" <DavidDowning -at- users -dot- com> To:<techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com> Date:Mon, 9 Feb 2009 14:24:19 -0600
From: "Michael West" <mbwest -at- bigpond -dot- com>
Subject: Re: I had to say it because I was afraid no one else would
I suspect there are many on this list who would object to "incentivize"
[snip]
There could be very few objections, I would think, to using the
construction
"provide incentives for [or 'to']" as a replacement for "incentivize".
But
in business-to-business writing I see nothing wrong with "incentivize"
as a
more concise bit of jargon, assuming that its referent would be clear in
the
context of the paragraphs in which it appeared. Business people know
what it
means, and there is no single verb that means the same thing. Nether
"encourage" or "promote" or "motivate" or "reward" are understood, by
themselves, in the specific sense of "putting incentives in place" or
"rewarding by means of incentives".
I would hesitate to use "incentivize" only if I feared offending the
easily
offended and the pretentious.
--
Mike West
----------------------------------
Well it still makes me wince. I say use "provide incentives for/to."
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