[jimbergin]

Thank you for posting the definition of "decimate". The wrong use of decimate is my pet peeve.

[SoCal Pubbie]

There is the literal use of the word decimate- "reducing by 10%", and the second, common use as defined by Webster- "to reduce a large part of". The word pontificate originally meant "administer a pontifical office", but it now also means "talk in a dogmatic and pompous manner". That's the beauty of the English language- it is flexible and evolves, unlike the dead Latin from which we get the word decimate.