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imkopaka wrote:

dave_in_austin wrote:The misuse of the word "decimate"

YES

Deci- means ten. Decimate means reduce by one tenth. Common usage has altered the definition in the dictionary, though. I pray they don't alter it further.

If enough people used the word "dime" when the mean "dollar" for 50 years, it would end up in the dictionary also as common usage, but that would not mean that a dollar and dime would be the same thing. Being in a dictionary does not make it correct.

The misuse of the word "decimate"