{i wasn't too lazy to search for the old one; it just was a bit lengthy and i thought folks might appreciate a fresh thread. oh, and this is an intentional crossover yart, as well....)
this just in from MSNBC, concerning the hostage crises in manila:
"Arroyo issued her latest warning to the rebels on national television, saying, “The reported murder of Mr. Sobero strengthens our resolve to decimate once and for all this cold-blooded bandit group.” [E.A.]"
To kill one in ten and disperse the remaining nine to other groups; often used as punishment for mutiny in Roman legions.
In this case they will simply round up the cold-blooded bandit group in question, line them up, have them count off by tens pick a number at random and kill every one with that number and disperse the remainder to other cold-blooded bandit groups.
To kill one in ten and disperse the remaining nine to other groups; often used as punishment for mutiny in Roman legions.
I know that is technically the meaning, but dictionaries now seem to list the commonly (ab)used meaning "severely reduce in numbers" as well. I was just commenting on this last night while someone said it on the news.
Regrettably, "decimate" now seems to mean leaving only one out of ten alive. And it is often applied to inanimate objects. I saw a news item about a volcanic eruption decimating a city.
Kill every one and 999 more for each one in the cold-blooded bandit group for good measure? Ninety-nine times out of ten, that strategy will backfire on you.
Regrettably, "decimate" now seems to mean leaving only one out of ten alive. And it is often applied to inanimate objects. I saw a news item about a volcanic eruption decimating a city.
I think it's gotten way more general than that. It is used all the time in the news (as I mentioned above) to mean something like "destroy a substantial part of". (Not that the news should necessarily be a prime source of wordly advice!)
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