4 ms·

> a <10% layoff is not unreasonable for a healthy company So, almost literally decimate in the classical sense? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decimation_(Roman

> a <10% layoff is not unreasonable for a healthy company So, almost literally decimate in the classical sense? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decimation_(Roman_army) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decimation_(Roman_army)

varjag 6y ago
My knowledge of corporate culture might be outdated, but I believe the former LinkedIn employees get to live.
- guenthert 6y ago
  They are terminated though.
- MattyMc 6y ago
  I think this varies company-to-company haha ;)
maxk42 6y ago
Decimate in the classical sense would be to reduce by 90%, not 10%.
- mulander 6y ago
  > Every tenth man in a group was executed by members of his cohort That is a 10% reduction. Killing nine out of ten would be a 90% reduction but 'in the classical sense' it would also mean that the lucky guy would have to kill the 9 remaining people.
  - dfxm12 6y ago
    Why did you put 'in the traditional sense' in quotes, as if you were quoting the parent poster, who clearly wrote "in the classical sense"?
    - mulander 6y ago
      My mistake, I wrote it from memory instead of copying or looking at the parent post. Edited and fixed.
- gruez 6y ago
  >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. [...] The word decimation is derived from Latin meaning "removal of a tenth".[
- rdiddly 6y ago
  Reducing a military force by 90% might not exactly improve its effectiveness...
- mhh__ 6y ago
  Reduce by 10% or reduce to 90% of it's previous value
war1025 6y ago
Apparently "decimate" is having a moment on HackerNews lately. It came up over the weekend as well [1], with the same disagreement between people on what it actually means. [1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23878605 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23878605
- realtalk_sp 6y ago
  There shouldn't be a debate at all since both sides are technically correct. Here's the definition from Google: > dec·i·mate /ˈdesəˌmāt/ verb 1. kill, destroy, or remove a large percentage or part of. "the project would decimate the fragile wetland wilderness" 2. HISTORICAL kill one in every ten of (a group of soldiers or others) as a punishment for the whole group. There are many words and phrases that have changed in meaning over time through popular (mis)use.
  - creaghpatr 6y ago
    I've heard the term Diezmo to describe the second definition, there's a fiction book about that.
    - nwatson 6y ago
      Diezmo (Spanish) and Dizmo (Portuguese) also mean "tithe", an obligatory offering of a tenth of income to churches or religious or charitable organizations. (Growing up in South America in a religious family, I heard both these words a lot.)
  - jacques_chester 6y ago
    I believe the shift in meaning came about because decimation was an incredibly brutal punishment -- it was the most severe sanction that a general could impose. What is often overlooked is not just that it was "one in ten" executed, but that they were executed by being clubbed to death by the other nine men who were not chosen to die. So "decimation" spread from the literal procedure to "worst outcome imaginable". Much as "literal" no longer means literal.

varjag 6y ago

My knowledge of corporate culture might be outdated, but I believe the former LinkedIn employees get to live.

guenthert 6y ago
They are terminated though.
MattyMc 6y ago
I think this varies company-to-company haha ;)

maxk42 6y ago

Decimate in the classical sense would be to reduce by 90%, not 10%.

mulander 6y ago
> Every tenth man in a group was executed by members of his cohort That is a 10% reduction. Killing nine out of ten would be a 90% reduction but 'in the classical sense' it would also mean that the lucky guy would have to kill the 9 remaining people.
- dfxm12 6y ago
  Why did you put 'in the traditional sense' in quotes, as if you were quoting the parent poster, who clearly wrote "in the classical sense"?
  - mulander 6y ago
    My mistake, I wrote it from memory instead of copying or looking at the parent post. Edited and fixed.
gruez 6y ago
>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. [...] The word decimation is derived from Latin meaning "removal of a tenth".[
rdiddly 6y ago
Reducing a military force by 90% might not exactly improve its effectiveness...
mhh__ 6y ago
Reduce by 10% or reduce to 90% of it's previous value

war1025 6y ago

Apparently "decimate" is having a moment on HackerNews lately. It came up over the weekend as well [1], with the same disagreement between people on what it actually means. [1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23878605 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23878605

realtalk_sp 6y ago
There shouldn't be a debate at all since both sides are technically correct. Here's the definition from Google: > dec·i·mate /ˈdesəˌmāt/ verb 1. kill, destroy, or remove a large percentage or part of. "the project would decimate the fragile wetland wilderness" 2. HISTORICAL kill one in every ten of (a group of soldiers or others) as a punishment for the whole group. There are many words and phrases that have changed in meaning over time through popular (mis)use.
- creaghpatr 6y ago
  I've heard the term Diezmo to describe the second definition, there's a fiction book about that.
  - nwatson 6y ago
    Diezmo (Spanish) and Dizmo (Portuguese) also mean "tithe", an obligatory offering of a tenth of income to churches or religious or charitable organizations. (Growing up in South America in a religious family, I heard both these words a lot.)
- jacques_chester 6y ago
  I believe the shift in meaning came about because decimation was an incredibly brutal punishment -- it was the most severe sanction that a general could impose. What is often overlooked is not just that it was "one in ten" executed, but that they were executed by being clubbed to death by the other nine men who were not chosen to die. So "decimation" spread from the literal procedure to "worst outcome imaginable". Much as "literal" no longer means literal.