Is there any publication which demonstrates that the improvement is really 10x?
(decimate had specific literal intent. Now it's just a force modifier like bigly)
feels euphemistic for the original “colloquial” usage I have for it.
> The killing of one in ten, chosen by lots, from a rebellious city or a mutinous army was a punishment sometimes used by the Romans. The word has been used (loosely and unetymologically, to the irritation of pedants) since 1660s for "destroy a large but indefinite number of." [0]