I have always liked language. I studied several languages as I went through school, and I was always fascinated by the slight nuances in language from one culture to the other.

Language evolves, and is in many cases imprecise. I think this is one of the major challenges for us technicians that attempt to model the real world in data.

I recently saw a list of some of the new words that are being added to the 2007 Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary. Here are some of my favorites:

• ginormous – the combination of gigantic and enormous – the word is defined as extremely large or humongous (amazingly, the first use of the word dates back to 1948)
• DVR – an abbreviation for digital video recorder
• perfect storm – “a critical or disastrous situation created by a powerful concurrence of factors”
• smackdown – “the act of knocking down or bringing down an opponent”
• sodoku – “a puzzle in which several numbers are to be filled into a 9×9 grid of squares so that every row, every column, and every 3×3 box contains the numbers 1 through 9″

While new words emerge, other words lose their meaning over time. How many times have you heard someone say that something is “so unique” or “very unique” or the “most unique”? Unique used to mean “one of a kind”.

Ahhhh . . . the good old days when one of a kind was as unique as you could get.

The word decimate used to mean to select by lot and kill every tenth man. The word comes out of a severe Roman military punishment practice. A cohort, a military division of approximately 450 – 600 men, selected for punishment by decimation was divided into groups of ten; each group cast lots, and the soldier on whom the lot fell was executed by his nine comrades, often by stoning or clubbing. Because the punishment fell by lot, all soldiers were eligible for execution, regardless of rank or distinction. As a result, the threat of decimation inspired fear and resolve in the Roman Legions. However, because a decimation significantly reduced the troop strength of an army, it is believed that the punishment was rarely used.

In modern usage, the word has evolved to mean to cause great reduction in force, usually much greater than 10%.

When I hear that something was decimated, I may be very unique in rejoicing that 90% of it still remains.

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