[afa]

What about using "passion" as a synonym for "love"? Technically, I suppose this is somewhat acceptable, but I dislike the practice, nonetheless.

Or confusing "accept" with "except"? Personally, I also dislike the interchangeable way in which "licence" and "license" are used. I was always taught (under British curriculum) that licence is a noun ("I have a driving licence") but license is a verb ("I am licensed to drive"). But I suppose this might come under the differences between American and British English.

Originally Posted by Worldwalker

Do the people who use "decimate" to mean "devastate" go to that part of hell too?

Originally Posted by HarryT

It amuses me when I read "decimate" being used in the sense of "everybody being killed", or something similar. Decimation was, of course, the punishment for cowardice in the Roman legions, and involved (as the name suggests) every tenth man being killed by his comrades. ie a 90% survival rate.

It seems both are valid.

Definition of "decimate" according to Merriam-Webster:

1 : to select by lot and kill every tenth man of
2 : to exact a tax of 10 percent from <poor as a decimated Cavalier — John Dryden>
3 a : to reduce drastically especially in number <cholera decimated the population> b : to cause great destruction or harm to <firebombs decimated the city> <an industry decimated by recession>

Or Oxford, if you prefer (which I do, myself [*checks with Worldwalker*]):

verb
[with object]
1 - kill, destroy, or remove a large proportion of:
the inhabitants of the country had been decimated
drastically reduce the strength or effectiveness of (something):
public transport has been decimated
2 - historicalkill one in every ten of (a group of people, originally a mutinous Roman legion) as a punishment for the whole group

*checks with Worldwalker whether his punctuation was satisfactory*