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#61
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In article ,
Adrian wrote: If it only kills 1 in 10 of them, what's the problem? Like many other words, decimates, is usualy used wrongly. I doubt many people would know what it actualy means. Including you: 1 : to select by lot and kill every tenth man of 2 : to exact a tax of 10 percent from poor as a decimated Cavalier -- John Dryden 3 a : to reduce drastically especially in number cholera decimated the population b : to destroy a large part of firebombs decimated large sections of the city Note that (3) matches the usage being discussed precisely. It even matches the *original* intent, which was not simply a technical term (although it was that, as well). It's simply too bad for snobs that languages evolve. |
#62
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In article ,
Adrian wrote: If it only kills 1 in 10 of them, what's the problem? Like many other words, decimates, is usualy used wrongly. I doubt many people would know what it actualy means. Including you: 1 : to select by lot and kill every tenth man of 2 : to exact a tax of 10 percent from poor as a decimated Cavalier -- John Dryden 3 a : to reduce drastically especially in number cholera decimated the population b : to destroy a large part of firebombs decimated large sections of the city Note that (3) matches the usage being discussed precisely. It even matches the *original* intent, which was not simply a technical term (although it was that, as well). It's simply too bad for snobs that languages evolve. |
#63
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: "Adrian"
: Like many other words, decimates, is usualy used wrongly. I doubt many : people would know what it actualy means. Calling it "wrong" several centuries and a couple of language borrowings away from the "right" usage is a bit much, imo. I'd phrase it "like many other words, 'decimates' is usually not used in a literal sense". But that's just me. "This is the sort of thing up with which I will not put." --- Winston Churchill Wayne Throop http://sheol.org/throopw |
#64
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: "Adrian"
: Like many other words, decimates, is usualy used wrongly. I doubt many : people would know what it actualy means. Calling it "wrong" several centuries and a couple of language borrowings away from the "right" usage is a bit much, imo. I'd phrase it "like many other words, 'decimates' is usually not used in a literal sense". But that's just me. "This is the sort of thing up with which I will not put." --- Winston Churchill Wayne Throop http://sheol.org/throopw |
#65
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On Mon, 12 Apr 2004 13:49:06 +0100, Adrian wrote:
phil hunt wrote: On Sun, 11 Apr 2004 16:22:14 +0100, Cal wrote: A similar situation occurs on Ascension Island in the South Atlantic. There were no real indiginous ground based predators on the island, which forms the breeding grounds for large numbers of seabirds many of which nest on open rocky beaches. The introduced cat population often decimates these colonies by killing large numbers of flightless chicks,often not even eating them. If it only kills 1 in 10 of them, what's the problem? Like many other words, decimates, is usualy used wrongly. I doubt many people would know what it actualy means. They should be decimated. -- "It's easier to find people online who openly support the KKK than people who openly support the RIAA" -- comment on Wikipedia (Email: zen19725 at zen dot co dot uk) |
#66
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On Mon, 12 Apr 2004 13:49:06 +0100, Adrian wrote:
phil hunt wrote: On Sun, 11 Apr 2004 16:22:14 +0100, Cal wrote: A similar situation occurs on Ascension Island in the South Atlantic. There were no real indiginous ground based predators on the island, which forms the breeding grounds for large numbers of seabirds many of which nest on open rocky beaches. The introduced cat population often decimates these colonies by killing large numbers of flightless chicks,often not even eating them. If it only kills 1 in 10 of them, what's the problem? Like many other words, decimates, is usualy used wrongly. I doubt many people would know what it actualy means. They should be decimated. -- "It's easier to find people online who openly support the KKK than people who openly support the RIAA" -- comment on Wikipedia (Email: zen19725 at zen dot co dot uk) |
#67
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#68
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#69
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And masticated, ruminated, and expectorated.
phil hunt wrote: On Mon, 12 Apr 2004 13:49:06 +0100, Adrian wrote: phil hunt wrote: On Sun, 11 Apr 2004 16:22:14 +0100, Cal wrote: A similar situation occurs on Ascension Island in the South Atlantic. There were no real indiginous ground based predators on the island, which forms the breeding grounds for large numbers of seabirds many of which nest on open rocky beaches. The introduced cat population often decimates these colonies by killing large numbers of flightless chicks,often not even eating them. If it only kills 1 in 10 of them, what's the problem? Like many other words, decimates, is usualy used wrongly. I doubt many people would know what it actualy means. They should be decimated. |
#70
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And masticated, ruminated, and expectorated.
phil hunt wrote: On Mon, 12 Apr 2004 13:49:06 +0100, Adrian wrote: phil hunt wrote: On Sun, 11 Apr 2004 16:22:14 +0100, Cal wrote: A similar situation occurs on Ascension Island in the South Atlantic. There were no real indiginous ground based predators on the island, which forms the breeding grounds for large numbers of seabirds many of which nest on open rocky beaches. The introduced cat population often decimates these colonies by killing large numbers of flightless chicks,often not even eating them. If it only kills 1 in 10 of them, what's the problem? Like many other words, decimates, is usualy used wrongly. I doubt many people would know what it actualy means. They should be decimated. |
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