Monetize: A superfluous word that is fun to use!
The blogosphere must be buzzing with the latest post to 37Signals blog: Monetize: A word we didn’t need
I know this because when you query “origin of the term monetize” on Google, this is currently the #1 search result, despite the fact that it is not really relevant to that particular question. Clearly, the Google algorithm is currently regarding a spike in queries for the term monetize as indicative of breaking news in the results it shows.
I actually have to align myself with the commenters that disagree.
Overuse of any term is poor form, but this term by itself is relatively harmless and kind of funny.
Technically, I think monetize is actually the verb for “converting to currency”. Like you may have a bunch of zinc and copper, but until you monetize it, it isn’t a penny.
So when you monetize X, you are literally turning it into the coin of the realm. That is, IMHO, actually a much funnier way to say “make money” than saying “make money”. Funny is basically the objective when speaking, right?
(Hence the use of the term “coin of the realm”!)