decimate

[David A. Daniel]

Well, actually, since it is no longer common practice in most modern armies
to punish the troops by executing every tenth man, I can't really think of a
practical use for decimate other than to describe some kind of serious,
though perhaps unquantifiable, destruction or carnage. I suppose I could
make sure that a tenth of something, no more no less, had been destroyed
(like a tenth of the trees in a forest, destroyed by fire, for example) so
as not to risk imprecise use of the term but, knowing myself, I'll probably
just blunder ahead without spending the time or energy to make an accurate
count. Besides, were I to make an accurate count I might find that 12%, or
maybe only 9%, of something had been destroyed and then I would be without a
term to describe the destruction. (duodecimate, novemate? nah)
DAD


If a vegetarian eats vegetables, what does a humanitarian eat?

-----Original Message-----
From: American Dialect Society [mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] On Behalf Of
Eric Nielsen
Sent: Wednesday, July 21, 2010 1:59 PM
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
Subject: Re: decimate

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
---

I know I can't fight the current usage. Still, I am at least a little
saddened to see the precision lost when decimate and annihilate become
interchangeable.

Eric




>
> On Wed, Jul 21, 2010 at 3:09 PM, Jonathan Lighter
> <wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com> wrote:
> > ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> -----------------------
> > Sender: =C2  =C2  =C2  American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU=
>
> > Poster: =C2  =C2  =C2  Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM>
> > Subject: =C2  =C2  =C2 Re: decimate
> >
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------=
------
> >
> > Now it's moved all the way to "annihilate; wipe out":
> >
> > 2008 Herman J. Viola _Warriors in Uniform_ (Washington, D.C.: National
> > Geographic) 52: The decimation at the Little Big Horn could have been
> > averted had Custer heeded the advice of his Crow scouts.
> >
> > JL
>
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> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>

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