NineMileTower@lemmy.world to Asklemmy@lemmy.ml · 2 months agoWhat do you secretly judge people for?message-squaremessage-square324fedilinkarrow-up11arrow-down10
arrow-up11arrow-down1message-squareWhat do you secretly judge people for?NineMileTower@lemmy.world to Asklemmy@lemmy.ml · 2 months agomessage-square324fedilink
minus-squareFeathercrown@lemmy.worldlinkfedilinkEnglisharrow-up0·2 months agoUsing “decimate” to mean “completely destroy” is not a misuse of the word. The word’s meaning has simply changed.
minus-squarepyre@lemmy.worldlinkfedilinkarrow-up0·2 months agoexactly. plus it makes sense, there’s no reason why decimate can’t mean reduce to one tenth.
minus-squareHugin@lemmy.worldlinkfedilinkarrow-up0·2 months agoIt’s right there in the word. deci 1/10 mate from matus to remove. It’s like expecting half price to mean 1/3 price. We use deci all the time to mean 1/10 Decileter, decimal, etc.
Using “decimate” to mean “completely destroy” is not a misuse of the word. The word’s meaning has simply changed.
exactly. plus it makes sense, there’s no reason why decimate can’t mean reduce to one tenth.
It’s right there in the word. deci 1/10 mate from matus to remove. It’s like expecting half price to mean 1/3 price. We use deci all the time to mean 1/10 Decileter, decimal, etc.