Post #434,022
5/13/20 8:22:01 PM
5/13/20 8:22:01 PM
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When you google: ["decimation" means 10% died? 10% lived?]
..you may be surprised to learn that there are 'authoritative' {cough} Sources both-ways, each didactic as to Its Correctness
--though some agree at the dichotomy: in different Times.
(I hew to: it kills/whatever 90%, as is the intention of '-mate'.. and common usage says that:
a 'deci-Liter' contains 10%-of-a-Liter--not 90%. Rest case.
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Post #434,024
5/13/20 9:20:00 PM
5/13/20 9:20:00 PM
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Well, there is the Roman Army definition.
From Wikipedia: Decimation (Latin: decimatio; decem = "ten") was a form of Roman military discipline in which every tenth man in a group was executed by members of his cohort. Alex
"There is a cult of ignorance in the United States, and there has always been. The strain of anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that "my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge."
-- Isaac Asimov
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Post #434,025
5/14/20 4:36:08 AM
5/14/20 4:36:08 AM
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I'm sure there is a name for words like that.
I am reminded of the word "bi-weekly". Does it mean twice a week, or once every two weeks? There are arguments for both!
Wade.
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Post #434,026
5/14/20 10:13:01 AM
5/14/20 10:13:01 AM
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Actually there are two
But which one is correct is of course contested. Regards,
-scott
Welcome to Rivendell, Mr. Anderson.
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Post #434,029
5/14/20 12:51:41 PM
5/14/20 12:51:41 PM
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No controversy.
"biweekly" == "fortnightly" == once every two weeks.
"semiweekly" == twice per week. bcnu,
Mikem
It's mourning in America again.
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Post #434,030
5/14/20 12:56:11 PM
5/14/20 12:56:11 PM
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Read Wade's subject again
Then apply my response to it. :-) Regards,
-scott
Welcome to Rivendell, Mr. Anderson.
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Post #434,031
5/14/20 12:59:15 PM
5/14/20 12:59:15 PM
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Mea Culpa. ;0)
bcnu,
Mikem
It's mourning in America again.
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Post #434,027
5/14/20 10:55:47 AM
5/14/20 10:59:34 AM
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Contranyms
Edited by drook
May 14, 2020, 10:59:34 AM EDT
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Post #434,032
5/14/20 3:24:46 PM
5/14/20 3:24:46 PM
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Excellent! ..but fatal.
You have hewed the dastardly anti-homologous to a fare-thee-well.
You've won Internet-Scrabble's 100-Yard Dash!
..wait: is that a thin-line 'twixt words? a deucedly fast race? a bit-of-spice? ... a boring-part of a car?
DASH it all!
[Red Queen] ~Words mean exactly what I want them to mean.
Commits *terminal lexicographic-seppuku. With a **letter-opener.
* ..wait: a train-station? an end-point? an electrical connection-point? a _____?
**..wait: is that like the big-A at opening page of a novella? a dull knife? a snoopy neighbor?
Dies. Silently..
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Post #434,045
5/17/20 4:28:33 AM
5/17/20 4:28:33 AM
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That's the bunny! Thank you!
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Post #434,068
5/19/20 6:50:41 PM
5/19/20 6:50:41 PM
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The meaning of “decimation”
…is baked into the fucking word. People use it these days as a synonym for “nearly destroyed,” which makes as little sense as assigning that same meaning to “halved.”
uncordially,
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Post #434,069
5/19/20 8:10:16 PM
5/19/20 8:10:16 PM
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Less sense than for halved.
Halved is much closer to "almost totally" than decimated is.
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