XPost: rec.arts.sf.written, rec.arts.books
From: john@jfeldredge.com
On Mon, 26 Aug 2013 10:38:23 +0800, Robert Bannister wrote:
> 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".
Actually, in American speech, you hear "momentarily" used in both the
"for a moment" and "in a moment" meanings. You have to rely upon context
to figure out which one is meant.
--
John F. Eldredge -- john@jfeldredge.com
"Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot
drive out hate; only love can do that." -- Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)
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