Words of the Day

'to destroy a large part of something'

Etymology: c. 1600, in reference to the practice of punishing mutinous military units by capital execution of one in every 10, by lot; from Latin decimatus, past participle of decimare "the removal or destruction of one-tenth," from decem "ten" (from PIE root *dekm- "ten"). The killing of one in ten, chosen by lots, from a rebellious city or a mutinous army was a common punishment in classical times. The word has been used (incorrectly, to the irritation of pedants) since 1660s for "destroy a large portion of."

Examples:

- However, upon the death of the Baron’s father, Dmitri Harkonnen, the old
Emperor had, through some mental deficiency, granted the seat of power to
the softhearted Abulurd, who had managed to decimate spice production in a
mere seven years. Profits plunged, and he lost control to smugglers and
sabotage. (Herbert - House Atreides)

- Prevented from linking with the land forces waiting to invade England from the Low
Countries, the Armada was forced to flee back to Spain the long way, around
the top of Scotland. Battle damage, bad weather and bad luck decimated what
was left of the fleet, and only 60 of the original 130-odd ships made it
home. (Coates - Dutch)

- The elders and the chiefs met to discuss what they could do about the
wasting disease that was quickly decimating their warriors. (Young - Shack)

call dibs = claim / reserve something (mainly US usage)

From: children's word to express a claim on something, 1915, originally U.S., apparently from earlier senses "a portion or share" and "money" (early 19c. colloquial), probably a contraction of dibstone "a knucklebone or jack in a children's game" (1690s), in which the first element is of unknown origin.

Examples:

- Seven hesitates to move, and since he’s hesitant, Sekani is too. But shoot, I want first dibs on a room. “Where are the bedrooms?” (Angie Thomas - The Hate U Give [recommended!])

- ‘Good idea!’ Tom exclaimed from his side of the table, where he was pushing
around some scrambled eggs. He looked like he hadn’t slept at all. ‘A
specialist, maybe! Just let me call Shorty the Chauffeur. Tina’s got dibs
on the Rolls for her tennis lesson at the country club, but I think the
Town Car is available.’ (King - Finders Keepers)

- “If this turns out to be a pagan sacrifice,” Sam said, “dibs I not be the
one to tell O’Kelly.” (French - In the Woods)

recent usage: "make a dent in" , "harm"

- In other words, it’s possible to float factually inaccurate statements and yet not ding your chances of confirmation,” Binder said.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2017/05/24/scientists-just-published-an-entire-study-refuting-scott-pruitt-on-climate-change/

- In addition, he said that the carrier expects passengers will share their experiences on social media, even ones that may ding the company’s armor.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/travel/youre-on-plane-a-situation-is-brewing-you-have-a-camera-do-you-press-record/2017/05/19/31d007e6-350b-11e7-b373-418f6849a004_story.html