![]() Sure, we’ve got that old Roman meaning, to kill every tenth soldier as a harsh means of imposing discipline. Words and their meanings change all the time. But to insist that it still means only that one thing would be like saying that “cyber” can only refer to control systems “corn” can only refer to wheat, barley, and rye seeds and “tweet” is only a sound that birds make.ĭespite rumors to the contrary in certain circles, English is still a living language. Once upon a time, that’s what the word meant. Where do folks come up with this crap? Ah: I know. Sometimes it starts to look like it might just be one cranky guy with a searchbot and an automailer. “Decimate,” they insist, “means to kill every tenth soldier! You can’t use the word to mean ‘destroy,’ or ‘devastate,’ or to cause a great deal of death or destruction! It only applies if there’s a 10% reduction.” I don’t feel a need to reproduce one of these irrational tirades against standard usage, but they’re out there. There are those out there who seem to be unreasonably agitated by the colloquial use of the word. The word for the week is “decimate.” As in: “In the first game of Saturday’s double-header, Yankees batters decimated Red Sox pitchers.” Or perhaps: “A stomach virus has decimated the staff this week, so we’re cancelling Friday’s party.” ![]() ![]() Would the Internet language sticklers please stand down?
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