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#32010 - 06/13/01 12:20 AM more odd press
Anonymous Unregistered	{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.]" yeah, well, a fat lot of good that'd do.
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#32011 - 06/13/01 08:46 AM Re: Decimate
Faldage Carpal Tunnel Registered: 12/01/00 Posts: 13803	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. I just don't see your problem here.
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#32012 - 06/13/01 09:28 AM Re: Decimate
Bean old hand Registered: 01/18/01 Posts: 1156	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.
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#32013 - 06/13/01 09:34 AM Re: Decimate
Faldage Carpal Tunnel Registered: 12/01/00 Posts: 13803	the commonly (ab)used meaning I suppose one could complain that it was being mis(ab)used merely by being applied to something other than a Roman legion.
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#32014 - 06/13/01 09:35 AM Re: Decimate
Brandon enthusiast Registered: 03/16/00 Posts: 218 Loc: Mountain West, USA	They could be a bit more humane if they'd instead millimate, or kilomate (but not in Australia). Brandon
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#32015 - 06/13/01 09:49 AM Re: Decimate
wwh Carpal Tunnel Registered: 01/18/01 Posts: 13858	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.
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#32016 - 06/13/01 10:10 AM Re: Kilomate
Faldage Carpal Tunnel Registered: 12/01/00 Posts: 13803	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.
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#32017 - 06/13/01 01:05 PM Re: Decimate
Bean old hand Registered: 01/18/01 Posts: 1156	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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#32018 - 06/13/01 09:05 PM Re: Decimate
nikeblack journeyman Registered: 01/19/01 Posts: 87 Loc: City of Brotherly Love, no not...	Well really, folks! You 'spect people who don't know no Latin to know how to verbiate with a Latin-root word? tsk tsk. Latin's much to hard to learn. Requires memorization. Worse, using words correctly requires use of a (gasp) dictionary. [grumpy emoticon emoting all over the place, with ironic smile]
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#32019 - 06/24/01 01:44 AM Re: Decimate
inselpeter Pooh-Bah Registered: 03/14/01 Posts: 2379 Loc: New York City	<<Regrettably, "decimate" now seems to mean leaving only one out of ten alive. And it is often applied to inanimate objects.>> Dear wwh, From your hand, all things wondrous! :)
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