Pulled from another thread

[SUNRAY]

Given that you are responding to quotes of two of my sentences (which probably have essentially 'opposite' answers) could you perhaps clarify what you are saying? In other words, are you happy with, say, "decreased by one third"?

Ah yes I see.
I'm happy with fractions and percentages and commonly flip back and forth between them.... Well apart from 'decimal fractions' with their plethora of definitions

Although I understand the usually intended meaning, the bit I don't like is n times smaller/cheaper etc.
Rather like some of the chestnuts we have on here such as: Plugtop, Live, Fusebox etc


This thread isn't an attack on anyone BTW

 

[SUNRAY]

Down a different track completely I had a funny a few weeks ago when we had a cold snap, is was something like 8°C one day and 2°C the next and someone said something like 4 times colder.

I picked up on it by converting to 45º & 35º and asked if they'd still say 4 times colder after the realisation I'd moved it to ºF a mutual friends schoolboy jumped on the band wagon and using ºK mentioned 275 and 281.

 

[JohnW2]

Ah yes I see. I'm happy with fractions and percentages and commonly flip back and forth between them.... Well apart from 'decimal fractions' with their plethora of definitions

"Decimal fractions" (as previously discussed) are, of course, simply 'percentages' with the decimal point moved!

Although I understand the usually intended meaning, the bit I don't like is n times smaller/cheaper etc.

Maybe because I'm dim, I'm still not totally clear about your position. I understand that you don't like "N times smaller/cheaper", but think you're happy with "N times larger/more expensive". Is that the case? What about "a quarter smaller/cheaper"?

Rather like some of the chestnuts we have on here such as: Plugtop, Live, Fusebox etc

Yes, of course, we all have our pet hates and irritations - but that's just human nature, and we all vary. "Plugtop" certainly irritates me (as does having to ask for a lamp to put in my lamp , but I'm personally not too affected by the other two!

 

[JohnW2]

Down a different track completely I had a funny a few weeks ago when we had a cold snap, is was something like 8°C one day and 2°C the next and someone said something like 4 times colder.

Yes, it is different - since you would similarly (hopefully!) not be happy with "4 times hotter" if the figures were reversed, although you have said written that you are, in general, happy with N times larger.

The point here is that proportions/ratios/percentages etc. can only be used with quantities/measurements which have what mathematically is described as a "ratio scale". That requires not only that points on the scale are equally spaced (an "interval scale") but also that there is a 'true zero'. As you go on to infer the absolute (Kelvin) temperature scale is a ratio one, but Celcius and Farenheit are only 'interval' scales, not 'ratio' ones.