Apr 08 2020 31
Incur is a verb that means to become liable or subject to.
The Latin word currere (COO ray ray) means ‘to run.’ By adding the prefix ‘IN,’ we get ‘to run into.’ Just as a person who runs into debt is responsible for it, the same can be said of someone who incurs it.
My dad always thought it was a bad idea to incur lots of debt. Being liable to past payments, he felt, was like owing money to your past self.
