"Your Mileage May Vary"
May 26, 2022 13:32:21 #
Stephan G wrote:
Not many are aware of the historical meaning of "decimated". 
(It had to do with the Greeks and Romans way back.)
(It had to do with the Greeks and Romans way back.)unus, duo, tres, quattuor, quinque, etc.
May 26, 2022 17:11:07 #
jerryc41 wrote:
unus, duo, tres, quattuor, quinque, etc.
If you are the one sounding off "Decem!", um, nice knowing you.
https://history.stackexchange.com/questions/26019/how-common-was-decimation-in-the-roman-army
May 26, 2022 22:02:39 #
Sorry Jerry I use it all the time, at 71, doubtful that I'll change. I primarily use it in The Attic - it's more polite than telling the person they are full of excrement.
May 27, 2022 19:55:17 #
Stephan G wrote:
Not many are aware of the historical meaning of "decimated". (It had to do with the Greeks and Romans way back.)
(It had to do with the Greeks and Romans way back.)On the contrary, I often see people who use "decimated" to mean "substantially reduced" criticized because the original meaning was "reduced by 10%", even though modern dictionaries include the "substantially reduced" meaning which has come to be accepted.
May 28, 2022 08:16:53 #
JohnSwanda wrote:
On the contrary, I often see people who use "decimated" to mean "substantially reduced" criticized because the original meaning was "reduced by 10%", even though modern dictionaries include the "substantially reduced" meaning which has come to be accepted.
The difference between "denotation" and "connotation". Plus, dictionaries are lists of most to least used connotations as per periodic polling of people in the business of publishing.
Killing every tenth soldier in one's army can be considered "substantially reduce", as in 10 out of 100. Especially when it was done to "tighten up" the troops. ("I am a Centurion minus 10.")
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