Ah, yet another writer who doesn't know the meaning of "Decimate!"
By
afocks,
Posted on: 2011-12-07 17:49 in CoH and CoV General Discussions
Ah, yet another nerd who doesn't know language evolves.
This thread nearly decimated my brain cells. What is this I don't even...
I'll always be a "Champion" at heart. My server away from home.
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While the strict meaning of 'kill one out of ten' is pretty much obsolete, it still doesn't mean 'decimate' was used correctly.|
Originally Posted by Emberly
Ah, yet another nerd who doesn't know language evolves.
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The intent of the blurb "decimate your foes with Titan Weapons" is better explicated with 'devastate' or 'destroy' or 'eradicate' or some other verb of total annihilation. 'Decimate' implies reduced or harmed greatly, not 'kill all.' Note that none of the quoted definitions implies 'completely destroyed.'
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Just had to throw in my two cents on this once, since I'm a massive nerd when it comes to "Altered English". Over the Centuries, many English words have shifted from their original purposes and acquired vastly different meanings. This process is a continuous one, as can be seen in today's word "bad, " whose meaning is now its own opposite: "great." As another example, consider England 500 years ago. Then, "improve" meant "to make progress in that which is evil." And there was no romantic "tryst" with a man or woman; then the word meant "a fair for black cattle, horses, and sheep"!
Here's a few words that once meant one thing, but now mean another:
Landowner: A dead man
Infantry: Children
Investment: Getting dressed
Jay: A woman of loose morals
Jealous: Devoted
Job: A sudden stab with a pointed instrument
Kittie: A name given to any kind of cow
Mess: A party of four
Myriad: The number ten thousand
Ear: A kidney
Ecstasy: A state of excessive grief
Toddler: An elderly person
Tush: A tooth
Or....my personal favourite!
Dork: A thick slice of bread, often used in sandwich making
A nerd I are. And if anyone else is interested, I learned most of these through the book and fun little fact cards titled "Altered English: Surprising Meanings of Familiar Words"
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Not true. Using the old definition, you'd only be removing 3.4 and 7.4% of the total voting population by decimating the dissenters. (I don't have any scratch paper to actually figure out the new totals, but there certainly wouldn't be a 10% increase to those in agreement as a result.)|
Originally Posted by Electric-Knight
If we decimate the dissenters those numbers'd be 76% and 36%.
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Though given the intention of old-school decimation to begin with, the numbers would probably be much closer to 100% on the second vote.
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Originally Posted by Nethergoat
it's NEVER too late to pad your /ignore list!
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I think the OP was going off of this:|
Originally Posted by UberGuy
I can't tell. Are you serious?
Edit: Just in case... [Truncated to save space] This isn't just something "that's in the dictionary". I'd say that the alternates are well accepted, and the OP's use is frequently denoted as obsolete. Contrast that with "ain't", which is usually denoted as informal or slang. |
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decimat...8Roman_army%29
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Originally Posted by Mr_Morbid
No, it's still expanding. Latest studies show that not only is it expanding, but the rate of expansion is actually accelerating. Some linguists have suggested a hypothetical force called 'Dark Etymology' to account for this phenomenon.
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Yes words do change meaning over time. "Literally" literally means figuratively now.
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Originally Posted by Zwillinger
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You ARE just arresting yours, right?|
Originally Posted by Zombie Man
'Decimate' implies reduced or harmed greatly, not 'kill all.' Note that none of the quoted definitions implies 'completely destroyed.'
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"seeking for is"?|
Originally Posted by RedwoodTheElf
D... word the writer is seeking for is "Devastate" - I blame the hordes of uneducated ...
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Anyone else see the irony?
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That's okay, the word "drop-kick" has evolved to mean "give wet sloppy kisses" and we're sure that you'll embrace this change. |
Originally Posted by AkuTenshiiZero
ITT: Another self-righteous putz who uses obscure, ancient meanings of words instead of embracing the ever-evolving English language like everyone else does.
I'm sorry, but I really hate your kind. You come off as such a snooty ***** it makes me want to drop-kick you. |
Goodbye may seem forever
Farewell is like the end
But in my heart's the memory
And there you'll always be
-- The Fox and the Hound
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"The word [the writer is seeking for] is devastate." That is a valid sentence (slightly awkward, but valid). Your objection is not valid.
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Originally Posted by afocks
"seeking for is"?
Anyone else see the irony? |
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Originally Posted by Dispari
I don't know why Dink thinks she's not as sexy as Jay was. In 5 posts she's already upstaged his entire career.
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You did notice that's actually referenced by the quotes in my post, right? I'm well aware (and was before I went looking for them). My point in posting the dictionary references is to illustrate that the Latin use is a nonsensical thing to lambaste someone over when a trip to any modern dictionary reveals the Latin use of the term is, if not obsolete, only one of (basically) two accepted uses. Edit: And doing a little more digging, it looks like the newer use of the term has been with us since the 19th century.|
Originally Posted by Firemoth
I think the OP was going off of this:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decimat...8Roman_army%29 |
It looks to me like an example of pedantic argument gone wrong.
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I'd hesitate at calling 'seeking for' wrong, but normal English typically doesn't allow 'for' with 'seeking'.|
Originally Posted by Aggelakis
"The word [the writer is seeking for] is devastate." That is a valid sentence (slightly awkward, but valid). Your objection is not valid.
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I seek the Grail.
I am looking for the Grail.
?I am seeking for the Grail.
It's very awkward at best, and when someone is attacking a writer for an awkward word choice, it's not too irrelevant to point out that the attacker is also using an awkward word choice.
De minimis non curat Lex Luthor.
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Originally Posted by UberGuy
You did notice that's actually referenced by the quotes in my post, right? I'm well aware (and was before I went looking for them). My point in posting the dictionary references is to illustrate that the Latin use is a nonsensical thing to lambaste someone over when a trip to any modern dictionary reveals the Latin use of the term is, if not obsolete, only one of (basically) two accepted uses. Edit: And doing a little more digging, it looks like the newer use of the term has been with us since the 19th century.
It looks to me like an example of pedantic argument gone wrong. |
No, I didn't actually (had kid aggro while reading and I apologize that my brain skipped that piece. Wouldn't have posted the link if I'd seen it.), and wasn't trying to argue anything.....was just trying to be helpful *goes off to the corner of sadness*
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And apparently "girl" used to be the term for all children, male or female. You had to qualify it with "knave" or "gay" if you wanted to be more specific.
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Originally Posted by Firemoth
Just had to throw in my two cents on this once, since I'm a massive nerd when it comes to "Altered English". Over the Centuries, many English words have shifted from their original purposes and acquired vastly different meanings. This process is a continuous one, as can be seen in today's word "bad, " whose meaning is now its own opposite: "great." As another example, consider England 500 years ago. Then, "improve" meant "to make progress in that which is evil." And there was no romantic "tryst" with a man or woman; then the word meant "a fair for black cattle, horses, and sheep"!
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Don't forget that current theories believe that once all etymology has been exhausted, there will be a slow vocabulary death of the English language.
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Originally Posted by Mr_Morbid
No, it's still expanding. Latest studies show that not only is it expanding, but the rate of expansion is actually accelerating. Some linguists have suggested a hypothetical force called 'Dark Etymology' to account for this phenomenon.
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Ugghh... That is utterly ridiculous (literally). |
Originally Posted by all_hell
Yes words do change meaning over time. "Literally" literally means figuratively now.
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It's not entirely surprising...
I don't think it is officially recognized openly yet, but (let's face it) the word "idiot" will soon be held as a great title of respect.
@Zethustra
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Originally Posted by all_hell
Yes words do change meaning over time. "Literally" literally means figuratively now.
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Sidebar: I'm not sure I'm convinced that "literally" means "figuratively" now. I think "literally" has a meaning that is impossible to define but instantly clear to most native speakers of English. It means something like "so intensely that it could almost be real," but I'm not sure that definition covers it either. I don't feel any of the online dictionaries I looked at really cover the full meaning of the word or its usual context. I know it's dangerous business disagreeing with the dictionaries in general, but in the case of this word I think its too contentious to call.
Main thread: "Decimate" in its original, literal sense is a pretty useless word IMO. The only reason to keep it in the dictionary is the figurative meaning. I personally associate it with the idea of "killing a portion of."
Sidebar 2: Just for fun, since we are talking about words migrating from their origins, check out these words (with links back to the Online Etymology Dictionary to provide more background):
Nice: stupid, senseless
Amuse: beguile, delude, cheat
Gentle: well-born (retained in "gentleman")
Daft: gentle, becoming
Snack: bite or snap
Quintessence/Quintessential: Literally the "fifth essence" or "fifth element," referring to the element beyond the classic 4 (air, earth, water, fire) that metaphysically permeate all things, soon after expanded to include current definition of "purest essence."
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I think that the issue is only confused because "literally" is so often used figuratively in statements of hyperbole. |
Originally Posted by Oedipus_Tex
Sidebar: I'm not sure I'm convinced that "literally" means "figuratively" now. I think "literally" has a meaning that is impossible to define but instantly clear to most native speakers of English. It means something like "so intensely that it could almost be real," but I'm not sure that definition covers it either. I don't feel any of the online dictionaries I looked at really cover the full meaning of the word or its usual context. I know it's dangerous business disagreeing with the dictionaries in general, but in the case of this word I think its too contentious to call.
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Goodbye may seem forever
Farewell is like the end
But in my heart's the memory
And there you'll always be
-- The Fox and the Hound
Quote:
Nimrod used to be one of the most popular boys names in the Victorian era....
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Originally Posted by Electric-Knight
Ugghh... That is utterly ridiculous (literally).
It's not entirely surprising... I don't think it is officially recognized openly yet, but (let's face it) the word "idiot" will soon be held as a great title of respect. |
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Originally Posted by Oedipus_Tex
Quintessence/Quintessential: Literally the "fifth essence" or "fifth element," referring to the element beyond the classic 4 (air, earth, water, fire) that metaphysically permeate all things, soon after expanded to include current definition of "purest essence."
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Big Bada Boom?
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It turns out Nimrod is the name of a great-grandson of Noah (as in the one who built the Ark.) The modern meaning is very recent. |
Originally Posted by Firemoth
Nimrod used to be one of the most popular boys names in the Victorian era....
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Originally Posted by Tenzhi
I think that the issue is only confused because "literally" is so often used figuratively in statements of hyperbole.
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Heh. Don't sweat it. It actually did occur to me that all you were doing was trying to explain it, but I was also confused how that could be due to the existing reference it turned out you had missed.
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Originally Posted by Firemoth
No, I didn't actually (had kid aggro while reading and I apologize that my brain skipped that piece. Wouldn't have posted the link if I'd seen it.), and wasn't trying to argue anything.....was just trying to be helpful *goes off to the corner of sadness*
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Blue
American Steele: 50 BS/Inv
Nightfall: 50 DDD
Sable Slayer: 50 DM/Rgn
Fortune's Shadow: 50 Dark/Psi
WinterStrike: 47 Ice/Dev
Quantum Well: 43 Inv/EM
Twilit Destiny: 43 MA/DA
Red
Shadowslip: 50 DDC
Final Rest: 50 MA/Rgn
Abyssal Frost: 50 Ice/Dark
Golden Ember: 50 SM/FA
Deci - prefix, a defining form meaning "tenth" ie- deciliter would indicate ten liters
Mate - verb, to bring together for breeding purposes
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And they used this to advertise Titan Weapons? Wow... Freudian...
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