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Does ‘decimate’ really mean ‘obliterate'’? (answer: no)
oxfordwords.blog ^ | 7/9/15 | Shea

Posted on 07/09/2015 11:40:57 AM PDT by pabianice

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A pet peeve of mine. Almost every news source mis-uses the word.
1 posted on 07/09/2015 11:40:57 AM PDT by pabianice
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To: pabianice

I totally agree. I consider misuse of this term a sign of poor teaching (i.e., lack of classical education).


2 posted on 07/09/2015 11:42:21 AM PDT by dinodino
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To: pabianice

It depends on where you are standing.


3 posted on 07/09/2015 11:43:39 AM PDT by DesertRhino (I was standing with a rifle, waiting for soviet paratroopers, but communists just ran for office)
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To: pabianice

Means to cut by 10.................


4 posted on 07/09/2015 11:46:47 AM PDT by Red Badger (Man builds a ship in a bottle. God builds a universe in the palm of His hand.............)
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To: pabianice

“The complaint about the word typically centers on the fact that decimate is used improperly to refer to ‘destroying a large portion of something’, when the ‘true’ meaning of the word is ‘to put to death (or punish) one of every ten’.”

Unfortunately, the “Dictionary” has already rendered your objection irrelevant, just as our “benevolent” SCOTUS and Department of “Justice” have redefined what is right and good for us.

Decimate (Definition 1):

to destroy a great number or proportion of:
The population was decimated by a plague.

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/decimate?s=t


5 posted on 07/09/2015 11:46:56 AM PDT by treetopsandroofs (Had FDR been GOP, there would have been no World Wars, just "The Great War" and "Roosevelt's Wars".)
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To: pabianice
Yes. And many think the "inflammable" gasoline in the truck will probably not burn, so let's make up a word flammable to mean exactly the same thing.
6 posted on 07/09/2015 11:48:21 AM PDT by Sgt_Schultze (If a border fence isn't effective, why is there a border fence around the White House?)
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To: pabianice

A cartoon character demonstrates how to ‘decimate’; “I HATE those Mee-cess TO PIECES!!!” Pixie & Dixie & Mr. Jinks.


7 posted on 07/09/2015 11:48:28 AM PDT by lee martell (The sa)
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To: pabianice
there are almost no words in English which have been around for more than a few hundred years without taking on new meanings,

Preventable!

changing their old ones,

Awesome!

or coming to simultaneously mean one thing and the opposite (a type of word known as a contronym).

Cool!
8 posted on 07/09/2015 11:49:17 AM PDT by Dr. Sivana (There is no salvation in politics)
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To: treetopsandroofs; pabianice

Notice how few online dictionaries even bother with word etymology now?


9 posted on 07/09/2015 11:49:51 AM PDT by rockrr (Everything is different now...)
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To: pabianice

Decimation was a punishment is the Roman legions for poor performance


10 posted on 07/09/2015 11:51:09 AM PDT by from occupied ga (Your government is your most dangerous enemy)
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To: pabianice

When President Obama boasted that al-Quaida was “decimated,” my thought was, since its strength has only been reduced by ten percent, what is there to brag about?


11 posted on 07/09/2015 11:53:12 AM PDT by Fiji Hill
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To: rockrr

“Notice how few online dictionaries even bother with word etymology now?”

FWIW, my source did, had to click on “Word Origin”.


12 posted on 07/09/2015 11:55:06 AM PDT by treetopsandroofs (Had FDR been GOP, there would have been no World Wars, just "The Great War" and "Roosevelt's Wars".)
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To: Fiji Hill

“When President Obama boasted that al-Quaida was “decimated,” my thought was, since its strength has only been reduced by ten percent, what is there to brag about?”

I wonder if they moved the wrong definition to #1 to support the Fraud. ;)


13 posted on 07/09/2015 11:56:01 AM PDT by treetopsandroofs (Had FDR been GOP, there would have been no World Wars, just "The Great War" and "Roosevelt's Wars".)
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To: pabianice

How about the phrase ‘very unique’? That phase is one of my pet peeves. ‘Unique’ means ‘one of a kind’. Something or someone either IS, or IS NOT unique. That phrase would be like saying a woman is ‘partly’ or ‘almost’ pregnant!

I’ve even heard the phrases ‘very unique’ and ‘almost unique’ used by an MBA who taught at a university after an international business culsulting career, including the original Canary Wharf development. Very disappointing to hear such mistakes from a ‘professional’.


14 posted on 07/09/2015 11:59:46 AM PDT by A Formerly Proud Canadian (I once was blind, but now I see...)
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To: pabianice

Another pet peeve of mine is the misuse of “apocalypse” to mean calamity or catastrophe, when the word actually means disclosure.


15 posted on 07/09/2015 12:00:38 PM PDT by Fiji Hill
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To: treetopsandroofs
My pet peeve: improper use of "that" instead of "who". Example:

He was the man that robbed the store.

It should be:

He was the man who robbed the store.

I hear this one butchered fairly regularly on the evening news.

16 posted on 07/09/2015 12:00:45 PM PDT by econjack (I'm not bossy...I just know what you should be doing.)
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To: Fiji Hill

I like the Urban Dictionary’s #1 definition for “Obama”:

The Messiah for brain-dead Democrats.

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Obama


17 posted on 07/09/2015 12:01:03 PM PDT by treetopsandroofs (Had FDR been GOP, there would have been no World Wars, just "The Great War" and "Roosevelt's Wars".)
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To: treetopsandroofs
One word I don't like is portmanteau, which in English is used to mean a word created by parts of two or more words. The problem is it's a French word for a saddlebag or similar such case or bag. I think a better English word would be "mashup".
18 posted on 07/09/2015 12:02:03 PM PDT by captain_dave
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To: A Formerly Proud Canadian

“More wrong” from Big Bang Theory last night. :)


19 posted on 07/09/2015 12:02:17 PM PDT by treetopsandroofs (Had FDR been GOP, there would have been no World Wars, just "The Great War" and "Roosevelt's Wars".)
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To: A Formerly Proud Canadian
How about the phrase ‘very unique’?

Reminds me of a politician who called himself "severely conservative."

20 posted on 07/09/2015 12:02:39 PM PDT by Fiji Hill
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