05-21-2010, 11:31 PM
(05-21-2010, 04:19 PM)--Pete Wrote: But it is exactly the second sentence that pushed my button. Clearly, the original meaning of 'to punish a group by killing one in ten selected by lot' is of little use today. So, to extend the meaning to 'killing a significant portion of a group' is understandable. Perhaps even to ' . . . most of a group'. But here is a perfectly fine, common word, for eradicating a group -- it's 'exterminate'. Actually, that sentence has two
How 'bout "extirpate"? Fewer syllables.
"I may be old, but I'm not dead."