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Pedants' corner

my boss loves to "incenticise" people

28 replies

ruthmollymummy · 02/06/2008 23:31

surely its incentivise? But there is a red line under the word now I've typed it, am I wrong!?
my boss says incenticise aaaallllll the time; is it acceptable to slap her?

OP posts:
Threadwworm · 02/06/2008 23:35

You could incendiarise her.

ruthmollymummy · 02/06/2008 23:41

haha, I wonder if I could explain it to her before she went crispy?

OP posts:
Tinker · 02/06/2008 23:55

I think even if she said incentivise I'd still want to slap her.

onebatmother · 02/06/2008 23:57

both are loathsome (and equally incorrect?), but in truth I have never heard of 'incenticize'. A David Brent moment?

asicsgirl · 03/06/2008 14:13

onebat i like the sneaky 'z' you put into this hitherto unknown and rather freaky word. see how words become normalised? normalized?? stop this filth!!!

bossybritches · 03/06/2008 14:15

"incentivise" is another Yankee made up word I am sure

MrsBadger · 03/06/2008 14:23

Unfortunately 'incentivize' is in common use - makes me cross when there is a perfectly good word (incite) to do the job .

AMumInScotland · 03/06/2008 14:24

She should try to "motivate" you instead, it works much better!

midnightexpress · 03/06/2008 14:27

DP's old boss used to end meetings by asking if everyone was 'in agreeance'.

DP never slapped him though because he (the boss) was an American Football player. Which probably explains a lot.

onebatmother · 03/06/2008 21:28

z is okay surely?

midnightexpress · 03/06/2008 22:29

mrsB, doesn't incite have negative connotations, though?

Tortington · 03/06/2008 22:32

we give vouchers to residents who participate in certain things. we call this an incentive

i am not sure why this is wrong.

please explain.

pointydog · 03/06/2008 22:45

I think the verb incentivise is wanky jargon used by dullards. So obv 'incenticise' is just ridiculous.

Tinker · 03/06/2008 22:50

There's nothing wrong with calling something an incentive but making verbs out of nouns all the time is wanky American nonsense. My real pet-hate is "tasked"

Katisha · 03/06/2008 22:54

And progressing things - usually to the next level...

DontCallMeBaby · 03/06/2008 22:57

Argh. Has anyone else been upskilled? I am fiercely resisting being upskilled. I don't mind learning new skills, but upskilling sounds unpleasant, and possible painful.

onebatmother · 03/06/2008 22:57

I don't think it's the concept of an incentive itself which is winding people up, Custardo - it's the tranformation of the noun ('incentive') into a verb ('incentivise', which is sort of pop-management shite).. which has then, to add insult to injury, been turned into a mispronounced piece of pop-management shite ('incentisise')... which is pissing everyone off.

Katisha · 03/06/2008 22:58

It's unasseptable.

onebatmother · 03/06/2008 23:11

unassept-ible doncha mean katisha?
Is that your real name btw? I really hate all those babyname threads that mock Syeesha etc. I usually think they sound really nice. Incl katisha.

Tortington · 04/06/2008 01:37

so if i said " We incentivise our residents" would that be wrong.

ruthmollymummy · 04/06/2008 08:09

I think it is technically correct, our pedant friends seem to not like it though! I say it's alright!

OP posts:
Katisha · 04/06/2008 09:19

Onebat, thank you, but Katisha isn't my real name. She'd be known to aficionados of Gilbert and Sullivan (although probably not to aficionados of Gilbert o'Sullivan) as a misunderstood old harridan in The Mikado...

MrsBadger · 04/06/2008 09:53

custy I would say 'We offer our residents an incentive.'

onebatmother · 04/06/2008 10:09

damn
I am not a huge fan of light opera, it is true.

Tinker · 05/06/2008 00:17

It would be very wrong and very slappable custy.