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

[Peter Reitan]

Caught up with May 11 episode of Jeopardy! today.
One of the clues was, "In Roman times, this noun referred to the punishing of every tenth man: now it refers to any wholesale slaughter.  The question was "What is decimation?" (Category 10-letter words.)

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From: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU> on behalf of dave at wilton.net <dave at WILTON.NET>
Sent: Wednesday, May 13, 2026 1:02:01 PM
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
Subject: Re: to decimate: a "recent" bugaboo

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Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
Poster:       "dave at wilton.net" <dave at WILTON.NET>
Subject:      Re: to decimate: a "recent" bugaboo
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=0AI think the phrasing "parlor/false etymology" is intended to evoke the e=
tymological fallacy, not that the etymology itself is incorrect. At least t=
hat's how I understood it.=0A =0A-----Original Message-----=0AFrom: "Dan Go=
ncharoff" <00001bc983129c8b-dmarc-request at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>=0ASent: Wednesd=
ay, May 13, 2026 12:26pm=0ATo: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU=0ASubject: Re: [ADS-L=
] to decimate: a "recent" bugaboo=0A=0A=0A=0ATrying to understand the "fals=
e" or "parlor" etymology. Did the word NOT=0Acome from the Latin for "to re=
duce by a tenth"??=0A=0ADanG=0A=0A

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