Right? If the Flyers decimate the Blackhawks, there are going to be much larger problems for the team than losing the Stanley Cup.
― sinister chemical wisdom (Jenny), Friday, 4 June 2010 18:12 (thirteen years ago) link
100% is my favorite chromeo song
― max, Friday, 4 June 2010 18:18 (thirteen years ago) link
I'll fess up to misusing it but I'm going to continue misusing it on the grounds that you could kill 1/10th of the each person's body, like the head part.Also gonna keep misusing "begging the question" because there's no equivalent that sounds better.
― Philip Nunez, Friday, 4 June 2010 18:22 (thirteen years ago) link
Raising the question.
― sinister chemical wisdom (Jenny), Friday, 4 June 2010 18:24 (thirteen years ago) link
"Raising the question" isn't cool enough for you?
― Eighteen straight. I think that's a record. (kenan), Friday, 4 June 2010 18:24 (thirteen years ago) link
xp Yeah.
Just avoiding the one grammar aspie who is going to pipe up and point out that you mean "raising the question" is worth modifying your behavior, IMHO.
"Grammar aspie" was kind of a mean thing to say. I'm sorry.
― sinister chemical wisdom (Jenny), Friday, 4 June 2010 18:25 (thirteen years ago) link
I think people get hung up on the difference between "begging the question" and "I beg to differ". Just a theory.
― Eighteen straight. I think that's a record. (kenan), Friday, 4 June 2010 18:26 (thirteen years ago) link
"raising" doesn't have the tugging david copperfield feel of "begging"
― Philip Nunez, Friday, 4 June 2010 18:27 (thirteen years ago) link
w/ 'decimate' it's stupid to claim that people are 'misusing' it - there's a modern, alternate use of the word (which is much more useful than the historical definition) and you can find it among the definitions in any dictionary.
― iatee, Friday, 4 June 2010 18:28 (thirteen years ago) link
xp "Please sir, may I have some more reasoning?"
― Eighteen straight. I think that's a record. (kenan), Friday, 4 June 2010 18:28 (thirteen years ago) link
Well sure ppl aren't exactly MISUSING it but I really hate the idea that they don't know what a cool term it is (was?)
― Yes! Yes! Hammerheads! (Jon Lewis), Friday, 4 June 2010 18:32 (thirteen years ago) link
okay I can agree w/ that
― iatee, Friday, 4 June 2010 18:33 (thirteen years ago) link
I can think of ten words that people will say the same of in 200 years. Some in just 50.
― Eighteen straight. I think that's a record. (kenan), Friday, 4 June 2010 18:34 (thirteen years ago) link
Yeah, I think the meaning of the word "decimate" has expanded over time, as definitions tend to do. freedictionary.com:
dec·i·mate1. To destroy or kill a large part of (a group).2. Usage Problema. To inflict great destruction or damage on: The fawns decimated my rose bushes.b. To reduce markedly in amount: a profligate heir who decimated his trust fund.3. To select by lot and kill one in every ten of.
― contraceptive lipstick (askance johnson), Friday, 4 June 2010 18:36 (thirteen years ago) link
fuckin trust funders
― iatee, Friday, 4 June 2010 18:37 (thirteen years ago) link
Actually the "usage note" following that definition is kinda fascinating:
Usage Note: Decimate originally referred to the killing of every tenth person, a punishment used in the Roman army for mutinous legions. Today this meaning is commonly extended to include the killing of any large proportion of a group. Sixty-six percent of the Usage Panel accepts this extension in the sentence The Jewish population of Germany was decimated by the war, even though it is common knowledge that the number of Jews killed was much greater than a tenth of the original population. However, when the meaning is further extended to include large-scale destruction other than killing, as in The supply of fresh produce was decimated by the nuclear accident at Chernobyl, only 26 percent of the Panel accepts the usage.
― contraceptive lipstick (askance johnson), Friday, 4 June 2010 18:38 (thirteen years ago) link
How do I get to be on the "usage panel"????
― contraceptive lipstick (askance johnson), Friday, 4 June 2010 18:39 (thirteen years ago) link
You have to be a combination of jaymc, la lechera, and Superman.
― sinister chemical wisdom (Jenny), Friday, 4 June 2010 18:40 (thirteen years ago) link
that would do it, surely
― contraceptive lipstick (askance johnson), Friday, 4 June 2010 18:41 (thirteen years ago) link
I am neither Jewish nor fresh produce, so I doubt I would have a place on the panel.
― Eighteen straight. I think that's a record. (kenan), Friday, 4 June 2010 18:44 (thirteen years ago) link
Inside information: the anti-fresh-produce lobby totally rigged that election.
― Eighteen straight. I think that's a record. (kenan), Friday, 4 June 2010 18:46 (thirteen years ago) link
See these 'usage panels' are exactly the kind of thing Sarah Palin was trying to warn us about!
― Yes! Yes! Hammerheads! (Jon Lewis), Friday, 4 June 2010 19:19 (thirteen years ago) link