Phrasing of multitudes.

TiredThinker March 16, 2022 at 03:53 1150 views 5 comments

When somebody has say 5 of something but wants 25 of that something they would say they want 5 times as many of it. But if they wanted 1 of that thing I hear people say they want 5 times fewer of it. Should it not be "1/5th as many?" When dividing should "times" be in the request?

Comments (5)

Agent Smith March 16, 2022 at 04:04 #667728 0 likes

5 times fewer?

11 times 5 = 11 × 5 = 55. It's not fewer, the product is greater than the original number we began with.

5 times fewer. :chin:

We can say I want 0.2 times fewer. 0.2 = [math]\frac{1}{5}[/math]

TiredThinker March 16, 2022 at 17:48 #667980 0 likes

Reply to Agent Smith

Exactly. It seems like a poor use of phrasing many people use.

L'éléphant March 16, 2022 at 23:56 #668080 0 likes

Quoting TiredThinker

It seems like a poor use of phrasing many people use.

It is not. At least not mathematically. "Times" is the inverse of division. Try, ten times weaker. Does that sound like the phrase "5 times fewer"?

TiredThinker March 17, 2022 at 04:46 #668202 0 likes

Reply to L'éléphant

Shouldn't it be 1/10 as strong?

L'éléphant March 17, 2022 at 05:24 #668209 0 likes

Reply to TiredThinker There is no "should or shouldn't" in math. Use "or".