Viewing a single comment thread. View all comments

nonrandomusername17 t1_j9t4e4j wrote

Reply to comment by AMeasuredBerserker in Boris Johnson calls on UK to 'break the ice' by sending fighter jets to Ukraine - and warns China against 'historic mistake' by R1ckCrypto

> He decimated the UK armed forces?

Decimate comes from latin, to kill every tenth man.

> Britain’s army, navy and air force will all be cut back over this parliament despite promises made by Boris Johnson during the election campaign “not to be cutting the armed services in any form”. ... A five-year defence review, published on Monday, confirms the army target size will be cut by 9,500 to 72,500 by 2025, its lowest level since 1714

9500/82000 = 11.6%

So yes, Boris did decimate the military.

61

mayasky76 t1_j9u8vna wrote

I..... I think I love you.

Nothing gets my goat more than stupid people implying decimation means complete destruction of something.

You still have 90% of your army after it's been decimated FFS

19

M17CH t1_j9uqva1 wrote

In modern usage it has a different meaning. I wonder if you subscribe to this same thought for the phrase "well-regulated."

Also let's not act like you aren't saying this because you saw the TIL from a couple days ago.

1

Intruder313 t1_j9wbvpp wrote

When people use 'decimate' incorrectly I educate them.

0

M17CH t1_j9wfn5c wrote

They aren't using it incorrectly. It has taken on a new meaning in the modern world. The historical definition is not the "correct" way to use it.

2

mayasky76 t1_j9urjj4 wrote

Wtf are you talking about....

You think I.... a 47yr old British person with a BBC accent you wouldn't belive, someone who actually had Latin lessons in school..... need a reddit TIL to learn the meaning of the word decimate.

Sigh.... dei gratia sum quod sum eh!

We also know what well regulated means. We have a dictionary over here.

−2

Millenniauld t1_j9waf3f wrote

Id est quod est, people like him will always think that education means "saw a meme on reddit" because it's the only way they know anything.

0

M17CH t1_j9uxuqr wrote

>need a reddit TIL to learn the meaning of the word decimate.

Yes. Historical meaning btw, not current.

>Sigh.... dei gratia sum quod sum eh!

Posting a phrase in Latin anonymously behind a screen is proof of absolutely nothing.

>We also know what well regulated means. We have a dictionary over here.

So then you would acknowledge that "well-regulated" in the historical sense is not prescribing heavy restrictions.

Either way, you're purposely using a long out of favour definition for a "gotcha" moment.

−5

mayasky76 t1_j9v3zq1 wrote

Lol. Well u/M17CH I'm sure you have me there.... posting anonymously on reddit . What sort of cunt does that eh!

−4

M17CH t1_j9v8oog wrote

It's not about being anonymous, that's the standard.

It's about thinking that posting a single phrase that you could have simply googled is proof at all of your ability to read, write, or speak Latin.

But you already know that. You're just trying to avoid it.

1

[deleted] t1_j9vcv3a wrote

[removed]

2

M17CH t1_j9wysa4 wrote

>I see you have been googling English then you clever clever bastard... no let me guess you've been writing in esperanto and using Google translate for English.... naughty naughty

Correct.

>Some. People. Still .know Latin you muppet

Yes of course. Also please be nice.

>I did my amo, amas, amat at school and you probably know some like E plurubus unum. Or deus ex machina. There are commonly known Latin phrases and I can almost be certain that everyone i went to school with know dei gratia sum quod sum as it was said every frigging day in assembly.

I don't know any Latin.

>I even know a bit of Welsh too and some mandarin... how is that even possible

Good question.

>Jesus, you do know that people out there in the world know different stuff from you?

Yes.

I just find it a funny coincidence that there are so many experts on the origins and historical definition of the word "decimate" mere days after a popular post about just that word. If you had that in your data banks before then, then I am happy for you. It is still weirdly elitist and not even really all that accurate to consider that historical definition of "decimate" as the correct usage in the modern day. It isn't used that way anymore. It has taken on a new meaning. To say someone is incorrect for using it another way is not really true.

>stupid people implying decimation means complete destruction of something

People are not stupid for using the more recent and culturally accurate definition of the word. Please be nicer.

1

FatherSlippyfist t1_j9uplfs wrote

The meaning of words is given by usage. Lots of us know the origin of decimate, but it doesn't matter because that's not what it means anymore. If you look in Oxford, it says "kill, destroy, or remove a large percentage or part of".

It list the one in ten definition as "historical".

−1

mayasky76 t1_j9uqwfk wrote

When you go to the doctor for an appendectomy you'd better hope some cunt hasn't been using it as a slang term for castration...

Also.. literally cannot mean exactly the opposite of figuratively which is how it gets commonly used.... thats not changing the meaning, its getting it fucking wrong

2+2 = Geoff hurst in the 1966 world cup kinda wrong.

Words HAVE to have a defined meaning or you just end up at green wallaby .

Get just the first thing that will still!

0

M17CH t1_j9ur0ug wrote

That's not really how decimate is used in modern language, but go off though.

4

AMeasuredBerserker t1_j9t5smf wrote

Conviently ignoring the more up-to-date and modern equipment that has been received and changes post Ukraine? Interesting view you have there.

And I didn't realise we were going to go back to the original Latin meaning of the word when the english version is far more common.

How to twist an argument 101.

−3

Groxy_ t1_j9tgb8g wrote

That's an English definition of decimate too... They literally just used the word correctly and you're spouting shit about them twisting the argument, while twisting the argument.

How to twist an argument 101, for real.

19

AMeasuredBerserker t1_j9trknv wrote

Are you honestly being for real? If someone says they are decimated or something is decimated, do they mean "I've lost 1/10?" In the traditional Latin meaning of the word?

Most people dont even know it is Latin let alone that it means 1/10!

This is twisting the argument. And it's only a reflection of absolute numbers! Not if they are using better equipment etc, like is mentioned in the goddam article alot of the money is going to Trident renewal which perhaps even more important than having a couple thousand rifles!

Want to twist and move the goalposts again?

−8

Card_Zero t1_j9tt5l8 wrote

This argument about words is distracting from the interesting point about whether or not Boris decreed military cutbacks (and if so, why). However, Wiktionary has both uses:

> (loosely) To devastate

> (proscribed) To reduce to one-tenth

and all the quotations in the latter case include some extra words like "to one-tenth" to make sure it's understood literally. In summary: whatever.

3

AMeasuredBerserker t1_j9tv0jo wrote

I can quite literally google the word and find this:

>decimate
>
>/ˈdɛsɪmeɪt/
>
>Learn to pronounce
>
>verb
>
>past tense: decimated; past participle: decimated

​

  1. ​

>kill, destroy, or remove a large proportion of.
>
>"the inhabitants of the country had been decimated"
>
>2.
>
>HISTORICAL
>
>kill one in every ten of (a group of people, originally a mutinous Roman legion) as a punishment for the whole group.
>
>"the man who is to determine whether it be necessary to decimate a large body of mutineers"

https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/decimate

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/decimated

https://www.dictionary.com/browse/decimate

Im interested why you put the one source, Wikitionary, the tried and tested! as the only example above all others.

But as you so eloquently put it, because it doesn't validate your point, "Whatever" you will twist it any which way to make you right.

6

Card_Zero t1_j9u0jyb wrote

I'm not the same person you were talking to previously, I don't have to be right to prove any point, and in fact I acknowledge I'm wrong about everything most of the time. I just happen to like Wiktionary, it's my go-to.

I don't know about Cambridge Dictionary, but Merriam-Webster have a page of notes about this particular "problem word". Dictionary.com acknowledge that the "devastate" usage has been criticized. My feeling is that the one-in-ten usage (probably popular in Victorian times when every user of long words knew Latin) has had an upsurge in popularity over the last decade or so due to people on the internet being anal about it.

2

AMeasuredBerserker t1_j9u1u1n wrote

Fair enough, I'll dial down the criticism a little, but it really did feel like you were looking for a reason that it mean 1/10th rather than using the material immediately confronted with if you googled said word. Respected dictionaries all specific state that the "1/10" meaning is historic.

I know my friends wouldn't know decimate is 1/10 and would roll my eyes if I explained its historic useage vs what everyone uses it for, but you are probably right with your last point.

3