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    Decimate: The Words To Be Used

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    Ilias
    The document discusses the proper usage of several words: - "Credible" should refer to something worthy of belief rather than a general term of approval. It has been loosely used to mean "effective" or "convincing". - "Decimate" originally referred to killing every tenth soldier as punishment, but it is misused to mean almost wiping out a group or being confused with "devastate". - "Diagnose" properly refers to identifying a physical condition, not the patient. It is incorrect to say someone was "diagnosed with epilepsy"; it is the condition that is diagnosed. - "Emerge" has a clear meaning but is overused instead of saying something occurred or happened.

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    Decimate: The Words To Be Used

    Uploaded by

    Ilias
    31 views1 page
    The document discusses the proper usage of several words: - "Credible" should refer to something worthy of belief rather than a general term of approval. It has been loosely used to mean "effective" or "convincing". - "Decimate" originally referred to killing every tenth soldier as punishment, but it is misused to mean almost wiping out a group or being confused with "devastate". - "Diagnose" properly refers to identifying a physical condition, not the patient. It is incorrect to say someone was "diagnosed with epilepsy"; it is the condition that is diagnosed. - "Emerge" has a clear meaning but is overused instead of saying something occurred or happened.

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    The document discusses the proper usage of several words: - "Credible" should refer to something worthy of belief rather than a general term of approval. It has been loosely used to mean "effective" or "convincing". - "Decimate" originally referred to killing every tenth soldier as punishment, but it is misused to mean almost wiping out a group or being confused with "devastate". - "Diagnose" properly refers to identifying a physical condition, not the patient. It is incorrect to say someone was "diagnosed with epilepsy"; it is the condition that is diagnosed. - "Emerge" has a clear meaning but is overused instead of saying something occurred or happened.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    31 views1 page

    Decimate: The Words To Be Used

    Uploaded by

    Ilias
    The document discusses the proper usage of several words: - "Credible" should refer to something worthy of belief rather than a general term of approval. It has been loosely used to mean "effective" or "convincing". - "Decimate" originally referred to killing every tenth soldier as punishment, but it is misused to mean almost wiping out a group or being confused with "devastate". - "Diagnose" properly refers to identifying a physical condition, not the patient. It is incorrect to say someone was "diagnosed with epilepsy"; it is the condition that is diagnosed. - "Emerge" has a clear meaning but is overused instead of saying something occurred or happened.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    of 1

    The Words to be Used

    accepts things on inadequate evidence, and is easily taken in. W hat is


    credible is w orthy o f belief. The w ord has suffered lately from over-use
    in contexts where it is little m ore than a term o f general approval, roughly
    equivalent to effective or convincing.
    On European integration I dont find his attitude credible.
    This is the equivalent of saying I d o n t agree w ith his attitude to European
    integration. The same looseness affects the w ord credibility.
    The double lining is a guarantee of the jackets credibility in wet weather.
    Here credibility presumably means reliability.
    decimate
    This w ord derives from Latin. The Latin verb was used o f the practice of
    Roman generals to punish by killing every tenth man in a given force.
    There are two current misuses of the word. The one occurs w hen use of
    the verb implies that a body o f people has been all but w iped out. In that
    case it is as though the meaning o f the verb is that a body of troops or a
    section o f some population has been reduced to a tenth of its original
    size, instead of to nine-tenths. The other misuse occurs w hen the w ord
    decimate is seemingly confused w ith some other w ord such as devas
    tate, as w hen a judge tells a criminal that he has decimated the lives of
    tw o w hole families.
    diagnose
    An interesting case of changing usage is provided by the verb to diag
    nose. The verb strictly means to identify something, most usually a
    physical condition. Thus the doctor may examine a patient and diagnose
    w hooping cough. It is the condition that is diagnosed, not the patient.
    Yet over the past few years usage has veered confusingly. You should be
    properly diagnosed by your doctor should be either: You should be
    properly examined by your doctor, or: Your condition should
    be properly diagnosed by your doctor. It is now com m on to speak of
    someone having been diagnosed w ith epilepsy w hen, strictly speaking,
    epilepsy has been diagnosed.
    emerge
    The verb em erge carries its ow n clear meaning, but it is now being
    over-used as a means o f avoiding the verb to occur or to happen.

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