Jargon Drives Me Crazy

The owner of a car lot narrated the following radio ad:

“…These cars are heavily incentivized…”

Incentivized?

I’ve heard of “offering incentives.”

But incentivized? I had to check it out. Sure enough, it’s in the dictionary, and it means “to give incentives to.” Another form of the verb is incentivizing (what a mouthful!).

I stand corrected. Incentivized really is a word. But is it the appropriate word to use when advertising cars — or anything, for that matter?

I hate it when people use big, impressive-sounding words when small ones will do.

[ Listen ]

10 Popular Phrases You Must Immediately Delete From Your Writing

I eagerly downloaded and printed a 30-page Special Report from a well-known blogger. Highlighter pen in hand, I began reading, expecting to find many nuggets. I did do a lot of underlining, but not the things the author hoped I’d highlight.

Instead, I marked 10 words and phrases the author used repeatedly. Here they are, followed by my translation of each:

[ Listen ]