4 ms·
'decimated', as in, paying you ten times less?
by roel_v 14y ago
'decimated', as in, paying you ten times less?
- gd1 14y agoNine tenths as much to be correct. From wiki: The word decimation is derived from Latin meaning "removal of a tenth". A cohort selected for punishment by decimation was divided into groups of ten; each group drew lots (Sortition), and the soldier on whom the lot fell was executed by his nine comrades.
- roel_v 14y agoAh yes, my favorite pet peeve - descriptivism vs prescriptivism in linguistics. Lives have been wasted arguing about this exact interpretation of decimate, my position is that 'decimate' in a 2013, Western context means one of the definitions posted above - i.e., significantly reduce in number, not by 10%.
- wtvanhest 14y agoIf you are going to pull out a dictionary, make sure to read both definitions. :) decimated: past participle, past tense of dec·i·mate (Verb) Verb 1) Kill, destroy, or remove a large percentage of. 2) Drastically reduce the strength or effectiveness of (something): "plant viruses that can decimate yields".
- roel_v 14y agoEven under definition 2, it still means 'reduce'. So if the salary was 'reduced', the second offer was less than the first one. It may have 'decimated the attractiveness' of the first salary, sure.
- wtvanhest 14y agoPlease tell me you are trolling: Drastically reduce the strength or effectiveness of (something): "plant viruses that can decimate yields". decimated Intel's offer. Drastically reduce the effectiveness of Intel's offer. It fits exactly. Not only that, but you could also say: Destroyed Intel's offer. (Def 1) Decimate is the right word choice and it conveyed the intensity of how badly Finance Co. beat Intel's offer. Your definition of decimate may be used by heavy quants but it doesn't fit everyday usage.
- czr80 14y agoSure, just like December is the tenth month of the year.
- roel_v 14y agoActually, it was: http://design.caltech.edu/Misc/month_names.html http://design.caltech.edu/Misc/month_names.html .