thar wrote:yes, the de- suggests not just division but removal, - leaving a decapitated body and a detorsified head. Don't think it will catch on, though!
I agree, thar. To say 'decapitated head' suggests that a head was removed from a head. I suppose if one thinks in terms of something having been 'decapitated' and - "here is the head", then the expression might be marginally correct.
Referring to the body as having been decapitated, then making reference to the head 'reads' a lot better, but is, admittedly, more verbose.
Example:
"The decapitated body of Juan Rodriguez was found in a dry gulch on the Mexican side of the U.S. border near Juarez. The head was later discovered in a large plastic grocery bag about a hundred yards from the body, along with a note from an unnamed drug cartel claiming responsibility for the murder."
"The nearest thing to eternal life we will ever see on this earth is a government program." - Ronald Reagan