XPost: rec.arts.sf.written, rec.arts.books   
   From: robban@clubtelco.com   
      
   On 25/08/13 2:21 PM, Brian M. Scott wrote:   
   > On Sun, 25 Aug 2013 10:09:40 +0800, Robert Bannister   
   >  wrote in   
   >  in   
   > rec.arts.sf.written,rec.arts.sf.movies,rec.arts.books:   
   >   
   >> On 25/08/13 6:07 AM, erilar wrote:   
   >   
   >>> In article <1377303118@sheol.org>, throopw@sheol.org   
   >>> (Wayne Throop) wrote:   
   >   
   >>>> Trying to minimize the utility by referencing historical   
   >>>> accident and implying that the choice of endian-ness is   
   >>>> arbitrary is a fairly common ploy (and, to be fair,   
   >>>> effective in some cases, though in reality no more   
   >>>> relevant than pointing out the old roman legion meaning   
   >>>> of "decimate" to prove something about what it means   
   >>>> today).   
   >   
   >>> Every time I read that something has been "decimated", I   
   >>> tend to think "10%? It could be a lot worse!"   
   >   
   >> Me too. Clearly "today's" meaning is restricted to   
   >> newspapers and young people. Further evidenced by the   
   >> lower case r in "Roman" above.   
   >   
   > No, it isn’t.  That reaction to the most common current   
   > sense of  is largely confined to those who are   
   > both reasonably well-educated and *not* young.  It’s almost   
   > as big a giveaway of either age or pedantry as the reaction   
   > ‘What, we’re going to bounce?’ in response to ‘We’ll be on   
   > the ground momentarily’.   
      
   That one is a pondial difference. "Momentarily" only means "for a   
   moment" outside North America. I can't claim that for "decimate".   
   --   
   Robert Bannister   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)