"By 1961, eighty-five percent of Africa's elephants had been _decimated_."

[Wilson Gray]

How about this? If killing 85% is "decimation," then, perhaps,

_decimate_ "kill some large, unspecified number, but leave
approximately 10% alive"

--
-Wilson
-----
All say, "How hard it is that we have to die!"---a strange complaint
to come from the mouths of people who have had to live.
-Mark Twain


On Tue, May 22, 2012 at 2:18 PM, W Brewer <brewerwa at gmail.com> wrote:
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
> Sender: Â  Â  Â  American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster: Â  Â  Â  W Brewer <brewerwa at GMAIL.COM>
> Subject: Â  Â  Â Re: "By 1961, eighty-five percent of Africa's elephants had been
> Â  Â  Â  Â  Â  Â  Â _decimated_."
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Decimating the calendar. Learning Latin made me aware that the month names
> were akilter. Two millennia of this illogical nonsense is really too much.
> I hereby make the emotion to officially change December to Duodecember.
> Likewise, November becomes Undecember. What happens to the other two
> inflated months is anybody`s guess. November Novus (old September),
> December Verus (old October)? On the other hand, it might be easier just to
> drop the two Caesars and go back to a lunar calendar. The Roman X does seem
> to have inflationary tendencies: decimate, December, dime ($10 worth of
> drugs).
>
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The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org