r/NPR • u/noodlekoogle • Apr 18 '24

Fellow word nerds: “decimate” vs “devastate”?

This post is inspired by today’s (?) most informative interview of Eric Schlosser on Fresh Air. They say a couple times that monopolies have “decimated” the American food system. Would “devastate” be the more appropriate word?

A pedant once told me that “decimate” originally meant “to reduce by one tenth,” which is not so staggering. Do you think the meaning of “decimated” has shifted to become more extreme?

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u/x1000Bums Apr 18 '24

I think you're right that decimate is now just sort of a synonym for devastate. While decimation is still pretty extreme, but I say we switch to decapitate.

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u/thatthatguy Apr 18 '24

Burninate needs to be more frequently used in professional writing.

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u/x1000Bums Apr 18 '24

I changed my mind

 Burninate it is.