Cecily
03-22-2010, 10:50 AM
The meaning of "decimate" is a hot topic in many places: whether it should still have its original meaning (to destroy one tenth) or whether the newer meaning of near wipe-out is acceptable.
However, today I came across a related usage that was new to me:
A pundit said that Obama's failure to get his health care bill passed would have led to "the decimation of his presidency".
Whether you use decimate in its old or new sense, it tends to be used for countable things.
Has anyone else used or heard it used in this more abstract sense?
However, today I came across a related usage that was new to me:
A pundit said that Obama's failure to get his health care bill passed would have led to "the decimation of his presidency".
Whether you use decimate in its old or new sense, it tends to be used for countable things.
Has anyone else used or heard it used in this more abstract sense?