The real meaning of decimation

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decimation_%28Roman_army%29

by mtkd • 17 years ago

3 7 17 years ago

en.wikipedia.org

RiderOfGiraffes2• 17 years ago

It used to be that "momentarily" mean "for a moment" but now it's used to mean "in a moment" as well.

It used to be that "oblige" and "obligate" were treated differently, but now the former is almost completely unknown.

It used to be that the "silly" meant "carefree" or "young and innocent."

It used to be that "nice" meant "exact" or "precise."

It used to be that "literally" meant "really, really truly" but now it's just used for emphasis.

It used to be that people knew the word "pedantry" but now they seem to use "pedanticism."

Given the predominence in written language for confusion between "there," "they're" and "their," will the written distinction eventually vanish?

Call me a pedant, but I think some of these changes genuinely impoverish the language. But languages change, have always changed, and will always change, until they're dead.

jacobolus2• 17 years ago

Your core point is correct but your examples are pretty weak/wrong.

Momentarily has meant “in a moment” since the late 19th century. Sometimes (more commonly a couple hundred years ago) the word also means “at the current moment.”

“Oblige” and “obligate” still have different sets of connotations, but I really don’t think your case is very strong here, since their main overlapping senses, in which they’re roughly interchangeable, have been in common use for several centuries, perhaps since the words first arose. The word “oblige” is still extremely common, in my experience more common than “obligate” for this use.

“Silly” originally meant “pitiful” (in the modern sense; “pitiful” originally meant “full of pity for others”). From there, it transformed into meaning “unsophisticated” and then “feeble-minded” or “foolish.” The OED doesn’t have it ever meaning anything close to “young and innocent.”

“Nice” has had a very complex set of evolved meanings. It began meaning “foolish” or “ignorant”, but in the past 500 years has meant at various points “lascivious,” “ostentatious,” “elegant,” “fussy,” “refined,” “respectable,” “virtuous,” “appropriate,” “effeminate,” “lazy,” “fragile,” “modest,” “shy,” “intricate,” “subtle,” “precise,” “slim,” “trivial,” “dextrous,” “doubtful,” “tasty,” “pleasant,” “attractive,” “friendly,” &c.

> used to be that people knew the word "pedantry"

First, “people” do know the word “pedantry”. Second, you realize that the “now” that we use “pedanticism” is since about 1850, right? “Pedantry” is still vastly more common. Compare: http://www.google.com/search?q=%2Bpedantry http://www.google.com/search?q=%2Bpedanticism

> "literally" [is] just used for emphasis.

Not in any kind of careful writing, unless for ironic effect. People still know what “literally” means.

> will the written distinction [between “there,” “they’re” and “their,”] eventually vanish?

Not any time soon?

RiderOfGiraffes2• 17 years ago

Examples have never been my strong point, but even so, I suggest that more people use "pedanticism" than "pedantry," and I have rarely heard "literally" used in anything other manner than for emphasis.

But I suspect we are more in agreement than otherwise.

EDIT: Recently found:

http://literally.barelyfitz.com/

http://gizmodo.com/5422405/this-robot-jedi-will-literally-bl...

http://www.slate.com/id/2129105/

pvg• 17 years ago

The evolution of 'nice' itself has been commented on for a couple of hundred years (if not longer), to boot!

http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=nice

BerislavLopac• 17 years ago

Actually, "literally" means "just as I said it, no irony or similar".

makmanalp• 17 years ago

The "deci" prefix should ring a bell here.

The real meaning of decimation

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