Misuse of Decimate and Less

When we are counting apples we say: "There are fewer apples in the bowl."

When we are measuring flour we say: "There is less flour in the container."

"Fewer" is used when we can count what we are talking about and "Less" is used when we cannot count but have to measure what we are talking about.

Even the news media is misusing these words constantly. It sort of grates on our nerves. LOL

Another misused word in our culture right now is "decimated." This word is being used to mean "destroyed", but that is an improper use.

Destroyed is a much stronger word than "decimated." Destroy means to "put an end to", completely eliminate is far greater destruction than decimate.

"Decimated" means to reduce by one tenth, which means that whatever was damaged was only damaged by a tenth, that means that 90% of the whatever was damaged is untouched.
"Deci" means a factor of one tenth.

Just sayin!!! LOL