Incentivize This

I try not to get irked by words like "incentivize." I understand why other people do, but I figure there's no use in letting acceptable usages get under my skin. Best to save my energy for stuff like "enthused" in quotation attributions. ("'It's a great deal,' Thompson enthused.")

But over the weekend, I heard an "incentivized" I just cannot let stand. I was in the kitchen, where I could hear the TV playing in the living room. There was some documentary-type show on about the making of Cirque du Soleil's "Love," the Beatles-inspired acrobatic stage show playing at the Mirage in Vegas. One of the people involved in the production was saying how expensive it is to put on "Love." He added that this huge investment "incentivized me" to turn a profit.

See what I mean?