--- On Fri, 12/19/08, Amit Varma <[email protected]> wrote: <snipped content> > correct. 'An history' fell out of > fashion in the 20th century, but was the norm before that
<snipped content> > Language evolves. According to Mirriam-Webster [1] and > WordNet [2], > 'decimate', like so many other words, has an > accepted second meaning. So, you're saying that 'an history' is hallowed by virtue of antiquity and a respectable pedigree, but in the case of 'decimate', the contender with youth and popularity beats the establishment favourite? Hmm. That's interesting sophistry. You'll notice my original post conceded that decimate has an accepted second meaning, though in true pedantic tradition, for the purpose of my Silk-list rants, I uphold the standards of the OED over sources that are either American (bah, humbug), or Internet-only (ptui!). One can't really deliver a pompous philippic about the decline and fall of the English language without adequately pretentious references to match. Snark aside, of course language evolves; if it doesn't, it dies. I've talked about the evolution of the voiced h in 'a history' and my support for the older meaning of 'decimate', in another post. But an exaggerated sense of indignation over trivialities is part of the fun of being a pedant and a Silk-list loony. cheers, Divya
