misuse of "decimated"

[OC Richard]

It's one of those odd little language things that bothers me.

"Decimated" is from Latin and means to be reduced by one-tenth. It's one of those absolute words that doesn't take modification by degrees. Just as you can't be "somewhat pregnant" or "partially nude" you can't be "totally decimated". You're either pregnant, nude, or decimated, or you're not.

I'm used to hearing "completely decimated" to mean "completely destroyed" but just now I heard a professional announcer use the word in yet another wrong way, using "utterly decimated" to mean "utterly discouraged".

Then there's the mixed metaphors. I heard "get the monkey off my shoulder" the other day. A friend of my wife, when she couldn't finish her meal, said "I guess my eyes were bigger than my head".

[Tarheel]

The wife, her closest friends and I keep a journal of words that we hear that escape the heads of "misusers." The current word of the day is simular (instead of similar). One is a comparative adjective and one is a substation adjective.
Supposably (as an alternative to supposedly) surprised us in its correctness. Don't forget to remind me of the time we overheard a woman describing three children as triplicates.

[Profane James]

The wife, her closest friends and I keep a journal of words that we hear that escape the heads of "misusers." The current word of the day is simular (instead of similar). One is a comparative adjective and one is a substation adjective.
Supposably (as an alternative to supposedly) surprised us in its correctness. Don't forget to remind me of the time we overheard a woman describing three children as triplicates.

The south is a gold mine....

[Kiltedjohn]

And then there are the weather forecasters who refer to "dry interludes", meaning "intervals". (Or am I being over-fussy?)

[Peter Crowe]

One that I often hear with London media types (particularly those who write for The Guardian newspaper) which grates on my ears, is a reference to, the Scottish when talking about the Scots as a people or group, in the same way as one might say the English, the Welsh or the Irish. Even in formal standard English as opposed to the Scots language, Scottish is an adjective which describes something or someone pertaining to Scotland and the Scots, e.g. a Scottish soldier, a Scottish police officer, etc. The collective noun for the people is the Scots or when gendered Scotsmen or Scotswomen.

[MacGumerait]

I'm used to hearing "completely decimated" to mean "completely destroyed" but just now I heard a professional announcer use the word in yet another wrong way, using "utterly decimated" to mean "utterly discouraged". .

Richard , don't be too surprised . The " main stream media " are seldom as intelligent as they profess .

[Chip]

"literally"

bugs the heck out of me. As in "It's literally raining cats and dogs outside." Unless the apocalypse is just around the corner, no, it is not "literally" raining cats and dogs.

[Kiltedjohn]

"literally"

bugs the heck out of me. As in "It's literally raining cats and dogs outside." Unless the apocalypse is just around the corner, no, it is not "literally" raining cats and dogs.

I did once hear a comedian say that it WAS raining cats and dogs, because "there were poodles all over the street."

[duke_19_62]

"literally"

bugs the heck out of me. As in "It's literally raining cats and dogs outside." Unless the apocalypse is just around the corner, no, it is not "literally" raining cats and dogs.

According to www.merriam-webster.com:
"Definition of literally

1 : in a literal sense or manner :actually<took the remark literally><was literally insane>

• 2: in effect : virtually <will literally turn the world upside down to combat cruelty or injustice — Norman Cousins>"
  
  
  So I guess it's like my science teacher said, if the facts don't fit the theory, the facts must be dispensed with.

[OC Richard]

in effect, virtually

As we know, dictionaries are (and should be) descriptive rather than prescriptive, describing language how it's currently used. So the fact that a dictionary is describing misuse shouldn't surprise anyone... it is right for dictionaries to do that. That doesn't mean that a dictionary's description of misuse is putting a stamp of approval on it- it's not what descriptive dictionaries do. Thing is, we're probably in the middle of is a semantic shift. Yet, for now, the majority of fluent English speakers feel that "literally" should be used in its usual and traditional fashion.