[Grovenet] Was it Devastated or merely Decimated?

[Meredith Bliss]

I beg to differ, Ron, as usual. Most sources do indeed reference the Roman 
army as the source of the meaning, "to reduce by one tenth," but the normal 
extension of that usage in modern times has been to refer to a more general 
drastic reduction in numbers, usually of people. I doubt the monetary usage 
to which you refer is very common ;-) Nor is the strict interpretation to 
which you cling. I really do need to get a copy of the OED ...

On the other hand, "devastate" is normally used to refer to non-numeric 
effects, i.e., you can decimate a group by killing many of its members, or 
you can devastate them by destroying their possessions ....

And speaking of usage ... "weigh in on" ... really?

On Friday 26 January 2007 15:47, Ron D'Eau Claire wrote:
> Okay, ladies and gents, here's one we can weigh in on without getting too
> "hot under the collar" (I hope).
>
> I'm a writer. I mess with words every day. So the deliberate misuse of
> words is, to me, like the avid bicycler who gets cut off by a careless
> automobile driver. It's unnerving and irritating.
>
> I'm hearing "decimated" used more and more in a context that suggests the
> writer meant something was "utterly destroyed". That is, it's used as a
> synonym for "devastated".
>
> Of course, they do *not* mean anything like the same thing. "Decimate"
> means to reduce by 1/10th!(1)
>
> If I 'decimate' a $10 bill, I have $9 left.
>
> If I 'devastate' or 'destroy' a $10 bill, I don't have anything left.
>
> However, the illiterati are so pervasive they seem to be changing the
> meaning of decimate! Even some dictionaries now give both contradictory
> meanings ("to reduce by 1/10" and "to destroy").
>
> Okay, so what other abuses and misuses of words grate on you folks out
> there? Got one? Sound off! We can agonize or argue about it without fear of
> causing a national revolt or destroying the environment! (Well, maybe
> putting a dent our linguistic environment, but the polluters have already
> done that with their use of words like decimate).
>
>
> Ron D'Eau Claire
>
>
> (1) The story goes that 'decimate' was invented in ancient Rome as a
> disciplinary technique for soldiers. If a group failed to perform as
> desired, one in ten would be chosen at random for punishment. That would be
> "decimating" the troop. One legend says that in extreme cases the soldiers
> would be lined up  at the edge of a cliff. The commander would walk along
> the line counting, 1...2...3...4...5 and when he reached 10 that soldier
> was pushed to his death. This went on for the total length of the troop
> standing there. It made the punishment personal and obvious without too
> seriously reducing the strength of the troop.
>
>
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-- 
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Just happy to be here, but speaking 
only for myself!
Meredith Bliss --- www.rdrop.com/~mbliss
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