[Grovenet] Was it Devastated or merely Decimated?

[Ron D'Eau Claire]

I'm with you 100% on that, irregardless! <G>. 

Another usage error that I sometimes fall into because I'm talking with my
fingers and not carefully proof-reading is its, the possessive, vs. it's,
the contraction for 'it is'. I can understand the error. People are used to
putting the apostrophe in when it's a possessive. Sometimes I'm not paying
attention and my fingers make the wrong choice. It's one of the things I
need to do a search-and-replace on in any new bit of prose. (A wise person
once observed that computers don't help us write better, they help us
correct what we've written better.)  

And there's Ed's favorite, "I" vs. "me". 

"Who" vs. Whom" anyone? <G> 

Ron D'Eau Claire 

-----Original Message-----
From: grovenet-bounces at rdrop.com [mailto:grovenet-bounces at rdrop.com] On
Behalf Of Allen Warren
Sent: Friday, January 26, 2007 10:26 PM
To: Forest Grove local interests list
Subject: Re: [Grovenet] Was it Devastated or merely Decimated?


My pet-peeve: "irregardless".  Yucchh!  I cringe every time I hear someone
state a phrase which includes the word, ". . . irregardless of the fact."
"Regardless", yes.  "Irregardless", no.
 
Allen Warren 
Mobile: (503) 781-0511



----- Original Message ----
From: Ron D'Eau Claire <rondec at easystreet.com>
To: Forest Grove local interests list <grovenet at rdrop.com>
Sent: Friday, January 26, 2007 3:47:09 PM
Subject: [Grovenet] Was it Devastated or merely Decimated?


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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