# Corrupted versions of words surpassing their original meaning **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 24, 2009, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/corrupted-versions-of-words-surpassing-their-original-meaning/507453 "2009-08-24T03:00:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Rack-a-Bones](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rack-a-Bones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rack-a-Bones)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2009, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/corrupted-versions-of-words-surpassing-their-original-meaning/507453/41 "2009-08-25T16:50:07Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > Both of these shows are precipitated on the fact that most people don’t bother to retain information that is not important to their day-to-day lives. We trivia buffs and locktrap brains are the exception, not the rule. > > Not to mention that _Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader_ is often quite banal or overly literal in its questions and answers, and the people on the show often can’t remember how to think like that any more. For example, despite it being almost totally useless since I know what you meant, a fifth grade you would probably have spelled “smarter” correctly. :smack: Fucking awesome. For the record, I spelled it correctly, but typed it incorrectly. Doh! ---
**Author:** ![movingfinger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@movingfinger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/movingfinger)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2009, 6:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/corrupted-versions-of-words-surpassing-their-original-meaning/507453/42 "2009-08-26T06:30:25Z")
I am irritated with the use of “phase” when “faze” is meant, as in “He wasn’t fazed at all by the news.” Also when I hear the word “careen” used as it generally is I picture a crew of a big sailing ship trying madly to scrape barnacles from the hull as it slides wildly along the beach. ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2009, 7:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/corrupted-versions-of-words-surpassing-their-original-meaning/507453/43 "2009-08-26T07:33:22Z")
> [@Markxxx](#): > > Did you notice how “bro” has turned into “brah” (almost but not quite the same pronounciation as the ladies undergrament bra) Fortunately that hasn’t caught on out here, but there’s a subset of the Twentysomething Hipster crowd here that have adopted the “Bro” affectation, presumably after having seen to many Judd Apatow movies. ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2009, 7:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/corrupted-versions-of-words-surpassing-their-original-meaning/507453/44 "2009-08-26T07:58:09Z")
> [@minlokwat](#): > > It makes my head spin. Literally. What most people–hereabouts anyway, judging from the tizzies that dust up every couple days about this genocide-level travesty of misusing the word “literally”–is that, at the beginning of its current vogue at least, it was not used, well, literally. It started as a joke. \*“My head was spinning.” \*Beat. \*“Literally.” \* Bwah! joke, funny image, imagine a literally spinning head! It was used–wait for it–_ironically_.\* I still use it that way sometimes. Not because I don’t know what it means, but if I’m going for a cheap laugh and my writers are on strike. \*Yes, class, even “_irony_” has more than one usage. ---
**Author:** ![Mosier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ea924/32.png) [@Mosier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mosier)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2009, 8:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/corrupted-versions-of-words-surpassing-their-original-meaning/507453/45 "2009-08-26T08:43:00Z")
> [@ThePylon](#): > > QFT > > It’s been getting a lot of use lately, too - describing investments … “my portfolio’s been decimated!” Really? That’s pretty freakin’ good! How is that good? To decimate something is to reduce it by a factor of 10. ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2009, 11:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/corrupted-versions-of-words-surpassing-their-original-meaning/507453/46 "2009-08-26T11:03:47Z")
> [@Mosier](#): > > How is that good? To decimate something is to reduce it by a factor of 10. No, it’s to reduce it \*by \*one-tenth - originally a punishment for a Roman legion guilty of particularly heinous misconduct, for which they were made to draw lots that would sentence a randomly-drawn tenth of them to death. Granted, you’d rather not see your investment portfolio shrink to 90% of its present value, but the point is that in the recent economic climate it’s been more than possible to do far worse than “mere” decimation. I’d like to add to this thread, but I can’t think of a pacific example. ---
**Author:** ![EvilTOJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee59a6/32.png) [@EvilTOJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EvilTOJ)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2009, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/corrupted-versions-of-words-surpassing-their-original-meaning/507453/47 "2009-08-26T13:33:55Z")
Inconceivable. It really means some sort of interjection when most people think it’s a word describing something highly unlikely. ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2009, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/corrupted-versions-of-words-surpassing-their-original-meaning/507453/48 "2009-08-26T15:00:28Z")
> [@Reply](#): > > Gay? Fag? Weird? Computer? Lame? Cool? Awesome? Tubular? Rock? Respectively: Lighthearted. Cigarette (n) or to tire out (vt, usu. _fagged_). Eerie. Worker who performs calculations. Crippled. Lacking in warmth (adj) or to lower temperature (vi, vt). Inspiring awe. Formed as a hollow shaft. Geological formation. ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2009, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/corrupted-versions-of-words-surpassing-their-original-meaning/507453/49 "2009-08-26T15:03:37Z")
> [@Reply](#): > > Since when did the SDMB have a monopoly on culture, language, and literature? Those are living, evolving things and the “majority of people in this country” have every right to live and speak as they see fit; pop culture has as much – if not more, by virtue of sheer popularity – legitimacy as highbrow, elitist tastes. > > Just as you don’t speak Old English or write like Shakespeare (thank God) anymore, so too do the masses continue to update their lexicon and lifestyle. Nothing wrong with that. > > Now when and comes to science and history, on the other hand… I weep for this country ☹ “Progress is our most important product.” Especially since anything old or marginally profitable goes right into the dumper. ---
**Author:** ![Rack-a-Bones](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rack-a-Bones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rack-a-Bones)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2009, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/corrupted-versions-of-words-surpassing-their-original-meaning/507453/50 "2009-08-26T17:16:30Z")
> [@Malacandra](#): > > No, it’s to reduce it \*by \*one-tenth - originally a punishment for a Roman legion guilty of particularly heinous misconduct, for which they were made to draw lots that would sentence a randomly-drawn tenth of them to death. Granted, you’d rather not see your investment portfolio shrink to 90% of its present value, but the point is that in the recent economic climate it’s been more than possible to do far worse than “mere” decimation. > > I’d like to add to this thread, but I can’t think of a pacific example. Arghhhhhhh! “Decimate” doesn’t mean factors of ten any more and it hasn’t since that great bout of Glutamus v Maximus. It means to reduce drastically or cause great destruction. Pardon me, I need to go fluff my plume. ---
**Author:** ![gurujulp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ba9def/32.png) [@gurujulp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gurujulp)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2009, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/corrupted-versions-of-words-surpassing-their-original-meaning/507453/51 "2009-08-26T17:23:23Z")
> [@minlokwat](#): > > I’m not sure the OP’s suggestions are valid examples of the thread title since they’re both proper nouns, rather than eponyms, so do these even qualify as new words entering the collective lexicon? > > -snip I love this sentence. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2009, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/corrupted-versions-of-words-surpassing-their-original-meaning/507453/52 "2009-08-26T17:25:02Z")
> [@Monstera\_deliciosa](#): > > Come, now. Do you think that Ludacris would have picked that as a name if he didn’t think the majority of his target audience would understand the pun? . Don’t you mean “Do you think that Ludacris’ parents would have picked that name…?” ---
**Author:** ![whole\_bean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/96bed5/32.png) [@whole\_bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whole_bean)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2009, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/corrupted-versions-of-words-surpassing-their-original-meaning/507453/53 "2009-08-26T18:16:12Z")
peruse ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_Robson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gary_robson/32/3448_2.png) [@Gary\_Robson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Robson)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2009, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/corrupted-versions-of-words-surpassing-their-original-meaning/507453/54 "2009-08-26T19:09:54Z")
> [@Rack-a-Bones](#): > > Arghhhhhhh! “Decimate” doesn’t mean factors of ten any more and it hasn’t since that great bout of Glutamus v Maximus. It means to reduce drastically or cause great destruction. Pardon me, I need to go fluff my plume. You didn’t happen to notice the thread title, did you? “Decimate” fits well. Corrupted version of word (reduce drastically) surpassing original meaning (reduce by 1/10). No “Argh” required. ---
**Author:** ![Rack-a-Bones](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rack-a-Bones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rack-a-Bones)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2009, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/corrupted-versions-of-words-surpassing-their-original-meaning/507453/55 "2009-08-26T19:33:24Z")
> [@InvisibleWombat](#): > > You didn’t happen to notice the thread title, did you? “Decimate” fits well. > > Corrupted version of word (reduce drastically) surpassing original meaning (reduce by 1/10). > > No “Argh” required. Ack! You are so right. Between this and the “needs washed” thread I think I’m losing my mind. I’m having trouble with “corrupted.” I believe the word “decimate” has just evolved, whereas “literally” has been corrupted. Irregardless, I appreciate you pointing out my foible. ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_Robson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gary_robson/32/3448_2.png) [@Gary\_Robson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Robson)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2009, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/corrupted-versions-of-words-surpassing-their-original-meaning/507453/56 "2009-08-27T02:33:44Z")
No sweat, **Bones**. But I don’t really see what happened with “decimate” as an evolution. It’s not like it went from “reduce by 1/10” to "reduce by “1/20” to “mostly wiped out” ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2009, 8:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/corrupted-versions-of-words-surpassing-their-original-meaning/507453/57 "2009-08-27T08:24:21Z")
> [@Rack-a-Bones](#): > > Arghhhhhhh! “Decimate” doesn’t mean factors of ten any more and it hasn’t since that great bout of Glutamus v Maximus. It means to reduce drastically or cause great destruction. Pardon me, I need to go fluff my plume. I wasn’t arguing for the literal meaning of “decimate”, I was arguing against **Mosier** ’s assertion that the literal meaning itself meant “reduce \*to \*one-tenth”. Go ahead and use it figuratively all you like, I mean, it’s not like there are any useful words in English that convey the sense of being given a bloody good hiding, and go ahead and use “refute” as if it mean “rebut, deny, repel” instead of “disprove” while you’re at it. Who am I to object? > [@Rack-a-Bones](#): > > Irregardless This, however, marks you out as a gomer. ---
**Author:** ![Salix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3e96dc/32.png) [@Salix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Salix)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2009, 8:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/corrupted-versions-of-words-surpassing-their-original-meaning/507453/58 "2009-08-27T08:44:17Z")
> [@Procrustus](#): > > Don’t you mean “Do you think that Ludacris’ parents would have picked that name…?” They didn’t pick the name Ludacris. They named him Christopher, and he chose the stage name Ludacris as a pun on his first name and the word “ludicrous.” He even pointed this out in the Saturday Night Live episode he hosted, in which one of the cast members pretended to be a childhood friend of his named Rick, who claimed Ludacris ripped him off because Rick originally called himself Rickdiculous. Should all parents be aware of every single pun that can possibly be made on their child’s name, including all the name’s shortenings and nicknames? They probably should, considering what kids can come up with on the playground. What does everyone think is the ratio of people who know about the Segway to the people who have heard of the term “segue”? I imagine there are lots of people who, upon hearing someone mentioning that they’re going to segue into a different topic, believe that the speaker is using the mental image of the Segway scooter as a metaphor for motion in general in an attempt at surreal humor, not knowing that the term “segue” predates the scooter by many years. ---
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2009, 8:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/corrupted-versions-of-words-surpassing-their-original-meaning/507453/59 "2009-08-27T08:54:10Z")
I’m starting to see the words “segway” and “ludacris” replace “segue” and “ludicrous” in online discussions, on message boards, etc. Like, someone would say on IMDB, “it’s ludacris to think that Tony Soprano would (whatever)” or “and then the scene segways into (whatever)” ---
**Author:** ![bengangmo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@bengangmo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bengangmo)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2009, 9:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/corrupted-versions-of-words-surpassing-their-original-meaning/507453/60 "2009-08-27T09:20:45Z")
Well my reaction to the OP was Ludiwho and ShamWhat so I’m not so sure. Also staycation is a perfectly cromulent word to differentiate a holiday in your home town from a vacation, which is a holiday when you travel somewhere. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/corrupted-versions-of-words-surpassing-their-original-meaning/507453.md?page=2)