On: California’s container-ship traffic jam

[lisper]

I'm as much of a grammar nazi as anyone, but I think this usage is defensible. 10 is ten times more than 1. So 1 is arguably ten times less than 10.

Certainly there are more important things to fret about, like: "Tim went to the store with he and I.' Arrgghh!!!

[recursive → lisper]

Even "ten times more" isn't exactly clear in my opinion. 100% more is two times. 900% more is ten times. Ten times more is... eleven times?

I try to say "{x} is ten times {y}", which is, as far as I can tell is unambiguous. (Mostly, what's ten times colder?)

[telotortium → recursive]

"x more than y" means "y + x" - a sum. "x% more than y" means "y + x% = y + y×(x÷100)" and "x% less than y" means "y - x% = y - y×(x÷100)".

To me, "x times more than y" means the same as "x times as much as y" only "y×x" and "x times less than y" means "y÷x". I guess this might seem ambiguous if you bracket the expression like "x times (more than) y", but in practice it's bracketed like "x (times more than) y".

(Native American English speaker)

[aidenn0 → lisper]

11 is 10 times more than 1. 10 is 10 times as large as 1.

[telotortium → aidenn0]

You'd really say 32 is 3 times more than 8?

[aidenn0 → telotortium]

Well I'd rather say it's 4 times the size of 8, but I certainly don't say that 6 is "75% more than 8"

[edit]

I also wouldn't say that 6 is "75% less than 8" if your thought is that "more" just indicates a bigger value.

[telotortium → aidenn0]

6 is 25% less than 8 - it's 75% of 8.

[aidenn0 → telotortium]

I agree; and similarly 10 is 25% more than 8 and 125% of 8.