[Ads-l] to decimate: a "recent" bugaboo

dave@wilton.net dave at WILTON.NET
Wed May 13 20:02:01 UTC 2026


I think the phrasing "parlor/false etymology" is intended to evoke the etymological fallacy, not that the etymology itself is incorrect. At least that's how I understood it.
 
-----Original Message-----
From: "Dan Goncharoff" <00001bc983129c8b-dmarc-request at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
Sent: Wednesday, May 13, 2026 12:26pm
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
Subject: Re: [ADS-L] to decimate: a "recent" bugaboo



Trying to understand the "false" or "parlor" etymology. Did the word NOT
come from the Latin for "to reduce by a tenth"??

DanG



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