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bombcar 6 hours ago

I'm just annoyed that decimation would be a 10% layoff; standard if even weak-sauce these days. Too many people use "kill one in ten" to mean "kill them all, let God sort it out."

Leszek 3 hours ago | parent | next [-]

Be careful to check whether you're in a glass house before throwing stones - "layoff" used to mean a temporary release from employment for seasonal labour before it meant a permanent one (https://www.etymonline.com/word/layoff). "Standard" as an adjective also used to mean "being held to a standard of excellence" rather than "normal" or "average". It's ok for words to change meaning over time.

piva00 5 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Semantic drift has always happened and will always happen in languages.

Decimation has been commonly used as a synonym for absolute destruction for a long time, being annoyed by it is wasted energy, better to let it go and accept the new meaning.

ajkjk 6 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

at a practical level that word hasn't meant "one in ten" for like, decades. probably just need to get used to it.

fuzzy_biscuit 4 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

Etymology is not usage though. I get where you're coming from, but fighting vernacular is all but useless outside of academia.