Jonah, your Burke guy is, as you point out, quite right. For the same reason, the famous Disney movie should be written “Snow White and The Seven Dwarfs” despite the fact that the correct spelling is ‘dwarves’ (or at least it is in British English). ‘Decimate’ ? No need to wait for Derb. Do what the French don’t do – and stick to your guns. Your original instinct was quite correct.