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decimate - strictly, to reduce by a factor of ten, but usually works for any a large reduction in numbers - to fairly wipe out, obliterate. I remember this from (some years ago) when I was going through a list of words for the GRE test.
jimmy p said:This is true. A stab at the origin?
Evo said:Gokul43201, that was great and very educational!
Can we have another, please?
arildno said:The origin of "decimate" is a disciplinary measure in the Roman legions when the officers thought the troops need chastisement and morale-boosting:
The troops were divided into groups of ten.
Each member in a tenner group drew a wooden stick; the guy who drew the burnt stick were beaten to death by the other nine in front of the other troops.
That's where "decimation" comes from, folks.
arildno said:Hi, jimmyp:
This is a SERIOUS discrepancy, am I wrong??
I'll report back when I've checked my source..
arildno said:OK then, it's not THAT serious
However, I did think I was right, and I know what the original source is (I'll check it up)
(it was a Greek historian living in Rome as P.O.W. at the time of Cato the elder, and the Bacchus cult scandal (oops, shouldn't have mentioned that sordid affair at this family-oriented forum..))
Gokul43201 said:I'm not sure exactly what the Bacchus Cult scandal was all about but I'm guessing it was related to some female ritual. The Romans called all the female rituals 'scandals', and something involving bacchanalians was all the more likely to be a target.
And if you're concerned about the nature of the material, I put up an age advisory at the beginning of this thread.