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In about the seventh grade, I had an English teacher drill in to me that "Decimated" means "Reduced by 1/10th". She was insanely strict about this like it was the most important rule in the English language. Here is the dictionary definition of the word from Merriam-Webster: quote:1: to select by lot and kill every tenth man of every time in my life I've heard someone use the word "Decimate" they actually meant "Destroyed" or "Obliterated", but my insane school-teacher has made me feel an itch every single time it is used that way. Did anyone else end up with this weird affliction? Are there any other words that have a similar effect or that irk you?
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Jan 5, 2020 01:47
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| # ? Apr 25, 2024 00:33 |
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Annihilate my balls
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Jan 5, 2020 01:49
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Actually yes op
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Jan 5, 2020 01:50
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Impact is a noun, not a verb Although I guess it could be an adverb w “impacted”
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Jan 5, 2020 01:50
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obliterate my balls
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Jan 5, 2020 01:51
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I was electrocuted not 10 minutes ago
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Jan 5, 2020 01:51
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I had a teacher shame me for writing "noone" instead of no one so I always correct people that do that. I don't really like that I do it but I still feel the need
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Jan 5, 2020 01:52
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can a mod please change the tag to something more appropriate thank you and god bless
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Jan 5, 2020 01:54
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Electrocute implies an execution via electricity, if you are alive you weren't electrocuted 
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Jan 5, 2020 01:54
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most americans got their dick decimated
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Jan 5, 2020 01:58
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Anyone else read something old and see a normally combined word thats written with a space like "where abouts" or "grand father" and hear a really exaggerated pause? Anyway being pedantic about words sucks and "Acktually, decimate REALLY means..." is among the lamest.
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Jan 5, 2020 01:59
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The correct term is flensed dear
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Jan 5, 2020 01:59
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Away all Goats posted:most americans got their dick decimated yeah I'm cut. Still feels good when I masturbate
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Jan 5, 2020 02:00
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Michaeldim posted:Anyway being pedantic about words sucks and "Acktually, decimate REALLY means..." is among the lamest. it loving sucks its like i have an ache in my knee that can only be alieviated by being a pedantic internet cocksucker i want to personally swhirly
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Jan 5, 2020 02:01
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TheAardvark posted:can a mod please change the tag to something more appropriate Done
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Jan 5, 2020 02:05
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The only time I've found myself genuinely upset over the whole "language changes" thing is with figuratively vs literally. Now there is literally no word that just means literally. So if for example you were telling an anecdote where something very unbelievable happened and you wanted to emphasize that you did mean that thing happened precisely without exaggeration, there's no real word for it anymore because literally is now accepted to have a definition that's the opposite of what it means. You'd have to use some sort of phrase or continued assurances instead of just the word that was intended to mean exactly that.
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Jan 5, 2020 02:10
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Decimate my balls. You heard me.
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Jan 5, 2020 02:12
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ArbitraryC posted:The only time I've found myself genuinely upset over the whole "language changes" thing is with figuratively vs literally. Now there is literally no word that just means literally. So if for example you were telling an anecdote where something very unbelievable happened and you wanted to emphasize that you did mean that thing happened precisely without exaggeration, there's no real word for it anymore because literally is now accepted to have a definition that's the opposite of what it means. You'd have to use some sort of phrase or continued assurances instead of just the word that was intended to mean exactly that. sincerely honestly seriously really just use emphasis
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Jan 5, 2020 02:12
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Sir we have literally decimated your rear end tumor
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Jan 5, 2020 02:13
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FactsAreUseless posted:genuinely I don't think Genuinely fits. I can't hear it any other way than literally. Can you provide an example?
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Jan 5, 2020 02:14
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FactsAreUseless posted:genuinely Yeah as I said you can use phrases or continued assurance (which you'd have to do with those words, like "really, and I mean really blah blah blah"). There's workarounds but it's a reduction in utility of the language to lose a word that was dedicated to meaning just that already. I mean I guess you could say the same with decimate or w/e but I can't think of many times in my life where I needed a shorthand way of saying something was reduced by 10% whereas literally was a useful word and I've found myself using the phrase "literally, and I do mean literally not figuratively" which feels like it really defeats the purpose of the word.
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Jan 5, 2020 02:18
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This thread is Literally triggering me rn, Epic.
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Jan 5, 2020 02:21
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Electrocuted is another one that bothers me, it means executed by electricity. Not when your dumbass toddler sticks his finger in a wall socket, that’s just a shock.
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Jan 5, 2020 02:21
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Decimate my dick and balls OP, as they comprise 1/10th of my body mass.
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Jan 5, 2020 02:24
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Laslow posted:Electrocuted is another one that bothers me, it means executed by electricity. Not when your dumbass toddler sticks his finger in a wall socket, that’s just a shock. There is no other word for being struck by electricity. What else can you say?
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Jan 5, 2020 02:25
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The beans in this chili are genuinely murdering my rear end in a top hat E: shocked? Hit by electricity? (Sounds a bit awkward in English but it works in some languages)
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Jan 5, 2020 02:25
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“He was hung to death” Well, probably not, no
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Jan 5, 2020 02:26
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SubnormalityStairs posted:“He was hung to death” he was hanged to death. He wasn't a rug
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Jan 5, 2020 02:35
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TheAardvark posted:There is no other word for being struck by electricity. What else can you say? Electrified?
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Jan 5, 2020 02:36
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He was hung, too, Death
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Jan 5, 2020 02:36
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Haha I was just thinking about this earlier today. I like that it literally means reduce by a tenth but it's mostly used to figuratively mean reduced to a tenth
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Jan 5, 2020 02:40
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SubnormalityStairs posted:“He was hung to death” See I feel like this is one of the ones I don't care about. It's obvious what someone means and so it feels like the only reason to take a stand over it is to be snooty. Like if you really want to stretch it you can attest that to hang someone is a specific thing and hanged is the past tense of that whereas hung could imply many other ways of suspending someone so the extra word adds clarity but I dunno I've never found myself reading or listening to someone using "hung" improperly and wondering whether they were referring to an execution or not. Whereas "I was so surprised I literally fell out my chair" is now ambiguous, did they fall out of their chair or are they using a literary device to add emphasis to their surprise? Who knows.
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Jan 5, 2020 02:50
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ArbitraryC posted:The only time I've found myself genuinely upset over the whole "language changes" thing is with figuratively vs literally. Now there is literally no word that just means literally. So if for example you were telling an anecdote where something very unbelievable happened and you wanted to emphasize that you did mean that thing happened precisely without exaggeration, there's no real word for it anymore because literally is now accepted to have a definition that's the opposite of what it means. You'd have to use some sort of phrase or continued assurances instead of just the word that was intended to mean exactly that.
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Jan 5, 2020 02:51
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Cryomancer posted:Electrified? Yes! Which is also another conundrum word, an audience can be "electrified!" to show a lot of emotional energy.
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Jan 5, 2020 02:51
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Pandemonium is running wild over here in Bethlehem. (NJ)
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Jan 5, 2020 02:51
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My step dad Steve literally told me I can't drink any more mountain dew or he'll cancel my Xbox live Gold Pass even though it's my mom's credit card
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Jan 5, 2020 02:57
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Jeffrey of YOSPOS posted:It's also really hard to express that, while you don't care very much about something, there is still a further degree to which you could not care about it. See now this one is one where I can easily understand the meaning the writer/speaker intended to convey either way, but I still think they're kind of dumb for using the wrong one. Your joke here, that "I could care less" is a valid expression meant to portray that you care little but are intentionally leaving wiggle room for something you might care even less about is not how anyone uses the phrase and instead they really should be going for "I couldn't care less" to appropriately portray their lack of interest. I mean the phrase is already intended to be taken in a figurative sense as it's obvious there are other things you aren't even aware of that by default win the competition over topics you care the least about so at that point you might as well use the phrase that makes more grammatical sense in getting across your dismissal and as the person reading/hearing the phrase I will assume the failure to do so is because you simply don't realize the mistake.
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Jan 5, 2020 02:58
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Jesustheastronaut! posted:My step dad Steve literally told me I can't drink any more mountain dew or he'll cancel my Xbox live Gold Pass even though it's my mom's credit card turn sixteen and get a job or get out
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Jan 5, 2020 03:18
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julius caesar's army decided to be a bunch of assholes and mutinied. (actually he ran them way too hard and they probably had good reason, idk it was loving really long ago) anyway, he way super in gaul or some poo poo, so he wanted to kill them all but still needed an army to not die. so instead he killed one out of every ten men, and thus decimated his own army.
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Jan 5, 2020 03:20
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| # ? Apr 25, 2024 00:33 |
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Bea Nanner posted:julius caesar's army decided to be a bunch of assholes and mutinied. (actually he ran them way too hard and they probably had good reason, idk it was loving really long ago) anyway, he way super in gaul or some poo poo, so he wanted to kill them all but still needed an army to not die. so instead he killed one out of every ten men, and thus decimated his own army. this is history, you guys should listen to this guy
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Jan 5, 2020 03:21
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