On Wed, 01 Sep 2004 03:19:27 GMT, zatatime
wrote:

Interesting...I use that one wrong all the time! Time to find a new
word.

Don't bother. Everyone uses it wrong, despite the fact that the word
practically shouts its own definition: decimate = one-tenth acted on.

I haven't looked it up in the dictionary lately, but I'll bet it has a
100 percent definition in there somewhere. Here goes!
Merriam-Webster's Collegiate 10th Edition:

Well, it's not as bad as I thought. 3b is "to destroy a large part
of." Followed by the example: "firebombs decimated large sections of
the city."

Have to tell you, though, as a veteran of Mr. Vaughan's sophomore
Latin class, I still wince when I read phrases like that. (It would be
much worse if the example had read "firebombs deciated the city.")

Sorry! Pet peeve.

all the best -- Dan Ford
email: (put Cubdriver in subject line)

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