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Martin wrote:
On Sat, 09 Oct 2004 14:03:36 +0100, Stephen Howard wrote: On Sat, 9 Oct 2004 08:28:00 +0000 (UTC), "Franz Heymann" wrote: "Stephen Howard" wrote in message ... On Fri, 8 Oct 2004 21:46:31 +0000 (UTC), "Franz Heymann" wrote: "Stephen Howard" wrote in message ... [snip] You might have to spend a week doing this, but it will decimate the population to such an extent that a weekly patrol will probably be adequate. There is only one extent to which a population can be decimated, namely to kill off one in every ten. That leaves 90% fighting fit. {:-(( There's always one... http://www.wsu.edu:8080/~brians/errors/decimate.html Interesting. I suppose it is futile to think that words may retain their definitions when there are so many ignorant wordsmiths bandying them about. And that points up your misconception that language is static in nature. I thoroughly recommend a book called Mother Tongue, by Bill Bryson. Should you ever read it I think you'll be appalled to find that you're just as guilty as the next 'ignorant wordsmith' when it comes to twisting definitions - and you'll also discover that many of your linguistic tenets have extremely suspect origins ( such as the venerable OED ). Bill Bryson is a more reliable authority, than the compilers of the OED? Not in my opinion. Bill Bryson isn't _any_ kind of authority: what he is is a enthusiastic word-lover, offering the kind of insights a professional writer has. That's invaluable, in my opinion; but his work is not to be mistaken for reference material. I don't get the bit about the OED having extremely suspect origins: as far as I know its scholarly origins are a matter of record; if "suspect" is being used here as a political judgement, well, it's hardly relevant. Mike. |
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