misuse of "decimated"

[Dughlas mor]

[figheadair]

Brilliant

[Tarheel]

Truly a brilliant Monty Python moment with the "FEWER" remark in the previous print.

Those silly "Ka-nig-ets" who's fathers smell of Elderberries, should not have expected less of the revolt.

[EagleJCS]

Just to be pedantic, they are homonyms - not synonyms
Alan

To be really nit-picky, they're homophones - they sound the same but are spelled differently.

Homonyms are words that are spelled the same but are pronounced differently and mean different things. e.g. "minute": 1) noun, 1/60 of an hour; 2) adjective, a relatively small quantity.* You have to infer the meaning from the context. Easy to do when the words are spoken, but more difficult when they're written. Small wonder people have such difficulty learning the English language!

*definitions are mine, not taken from a dictionary.

[DWFII]

Small wonder people have such difficulty learning the English language!

At the same time what is really a wonder (to me) is that how few have more than rudimentary fluency with the English language...perhaps don't even want it....esp. among native speakers. I mean come on, lads, it's not calculus. We use it every day. Hard to comprehend how some skill doesn't "soak in."

[freep]

It would seem to me that despite legends surrounding towers and babble there is a supernatural force which is imbued with a wondrous sense of humor. This is evidenced by the existence of such things as the camel (a horse designed by a committee) and the platypus (God, standing in a scenic overlook of the Earth called to his right-hand man Satan one day, gestured to the animal in question and said, "Now that right there is funny!"). Given this probable preternatural inclination to humor it is my firm belief that language, particularly English, has been created by said supernatural force that those of us with the wit, foresight and perseverance to understand the correct usage thereof may have the joy of correcting those who do not.

Thus endeth the sermon, go and misuse no more.

[neloon]

To be really nit-picky, they're homophones - they sound the same but are spelled differently.

Homonyms are words that are spelled the same but are pronounced differently and mean different things. e.g. "minute": 1) noun, 1/60 of an hour; 2) adjective, a relatively small quantity.* You have to infer the meaning from the context. Easy to do when the words are spoken, but more difficult when they're written. Small wonder people have such difficulty learning the English language!

*definitions are mine, not taken from a dictionary.

Not so. OED:-
"homonym Each of two or more words having the same spelling or pronunciation but different meanings and origins."
i.e. the spelling need not be the same.
If the spellings are the same, they are homographs but the original examples were "plural" and "pleural"
There may be a UK/US difference on all of this.
Alan

[Kiltedjohn]

Someone told me recently of a book called "Accidence will Happen", by Oliver Kamm. I haven't yet got hold of the book, but the reviews on Amazon are quite instructive! It seems very relevant to this thread.