Well, the trouble with 'decimate' in particular is that its root meaning is embedded in the word itself, 'dec-' meaning ten even today in words like 'decimal.' Hence, "reduce by 10%" is an easy meaning to infer. It's just irritating that family-groupings of words don't all grow in the same direction.
Hey, I still think 'data' is plural.
I had a colleague in the doctoral program for psychology at a university tell me that any mis-use of plurality around the word 'datum/data' in her dissertation or any qualifying exam is automatic grounds for failure. I think humanities people and the general public are very loose with it, but even the soft sciences are still careful about that word.
Now if only I could convince the Times that "millennia" is still a useful plural (they use "millenniums").
If I saw that in the paper, I'd think I'd been wrong, and it would be all self-perpetuating and stuff.
Hence, "reduce by 10%" is an easy meaning to infer
Easy for who? I think the ease with which the original meaning has been lost contradicts your assumption.
How many English speakers know that they know the meaning of the "deci-" root anyway?
And even if you know deci- is a tenth, why wouldn't it be 10% left, not 10% gone? (Assuming you know deci- from metrics, but not -mate.)
I think humanities people and the general public are very loose with it,
Software people invariably use the singular; I've just given up.
Explode comes from "ex plaudere", to drive somebody off the stage by clapping. (Seriously. Look it up.) That isn't the meaning any more.
Surely one of the reasons English has thrived for as long as it has is its adaptability? Without the rigidity of most of the languages that acted as legs for it, it can encompass pretty much anything thrown at it.
Seen on the Interbunny:
Georgia bride-to-be turns up missing
Turns up missing? Is this a Southern thing?
Turns up missing? Is this a Southern thing?
I guess it must be. I take it there are parts of the country that don't say "turns up missing"?
Now if only I could convince the Times that "millennia" is still a useful plural (they use "millenniums").
My EYES!
I'm just fighting what is likely a vain battle against "free reign" and "tow the line."
In a first for our marriage, DH and I had a conversation last night where he looked at something I'd written and said, "That's not very good--flat description, not your best writing at all," and it didn't lead to a fight. It helped that he quickly followed up with, "I know what you're trying to get across, and here's why I think it's not working."
Once we finished talking about the specific paragraph in question, he said my problem was that I was overpitching. I asked him what I should do about it. His first suggestion was "breathe through your eyelids," but he went on to say he thought I was suffering from a combination of tunnel vision/fatigue from focusing so exclusively on one big project and a loss of confidence in my skills. As a result I'm forcing my strengths (dialogue, characterization, period detail) to the point they're exaggerated and lose all their smooth, dazzling qualities, and I'm obsessing over my weaknesses (description, pacing) in an unhealthy way that does nothing to fix them and everything to make me think I'm a terrible, hopeless writer.
His diagnosis is that I shouldn't stop work on the novel, but that I should spend 15-30 minutes every day on something else. And my next novel doesn't count--too similar. Writing Coach DH wants me to play with different eras/styles, try writing a whole story with no dialogue, etc. He's probably onto something, but I'm drawing a complete blank on what to attempt. Y'all have probably noticed I don't do the drabbles unless they suggest to me something from the wip or one of the embryonic novels. I definitely get tunnel vision.
Oh, and I think we were finally able to have a productive conversation about my writing due to greater maturity/understanding on both sides. I'm getting better at taking criticism, and he's getting better at giving it tactfully and making me feel like he respects and understands what I'm trying to achieve even if he'd never willingly pick up a historical romance without my name on the cover.
