Word Matters

'Decimate': Use It However You Want


Listen Later

Few words in the English language get people as riled up as the supposed "incorrect" use of 'decimate.' Does it have to keep its Roman meaning of "reduce by one tenth" or can it generally mean "destroy," as it's been used by millions of speakers for hundreds of years? (Hint: see title.)

Then we'll look at the language of invitations, and the rescinding thereof: yep, it's the difference between 'disinvite' and 'uninvite.'

Hosted by Emily Brewster, Ammon Shea, and Peter Sokolowski.

Produced in collaboration with New England Public Media.

Transcript available here.


Sponsored by University of California Irvine Division of Continuing Education. For more information, please visit: ce.uci.edu/learnnow

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

...more
View all episodesView all episodes
Download on the App Store

Word MattersBy Merriam-Webster, New England Public Media

  • 4.9
  • 4.9
  • 4.9
  • 4.9
  • 4.9

4.9

483 ratings


More shows like Word Matters

View all
Hidden Brain by Hidden Brain, Shankar Vedantam

Hidden Brain

43,696 Listeners

TED Talks Daily by TED

TED Talks Daily

11,249 Listeners

The Art of Charm by The Art of Charm

The Art of Charm

10,499 Listeners

Grammar Girl Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing by QuickAndDirtyTips.com

Grammar Girl Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing

2,839 Listeners

The Book Review by The New York Times

The Book Review

3,997 Listeners

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day by Merriam-Webster

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day

1,257 Listeners

The Allusionist by Helen Zaltzman

The Allusionist

3,005 Listeners

Gastropod by Cynthia Graber and Nicola Twilley

Gastropod

3,642 Listeners

A Way with Words - language, linguistics, and callers from all over by Martha Barnette and Grant Barrett. Produced by Stefanie Levine.

A Way with Words - language, linguistics, and callers from all over

2,302 Listeners

Lingthusiasm - A podcast that's enthusiastic about linguistics by Gretchen McCulloch and Lauren Gawne

Lingthusiasm - A podcast that's enthusiastic about linguistics

639 Listeners

Ologies with Alie Ward by Alie Ward

Ologies with Alie Ward

24,513 Listeners

Life Kit by NPR

Life Kit

4,825 Listeners

No Stupid Questions by Freakonomics Radio + Stitcher

No Stupid Questions

3,626 Listeners

People I (Mostly) Admire by Freakonomics Radio + Stitcher

People I (Mostly) Admire

2,073 Listeners

The Psychology of your 20s by iHeartPodcasts

The Psychology of your 20s

1,425 Listeners