Re: OT "x times cheaper", was: Re: Server hardware advice.

From	David Wright <deblis@lionunicorn.co.uk>
Newsgroups	linux.debian.user
Subject	Re: OT "x times cheaper", was: Re: Server hardware advice.
Date	2019-08-10 17:10 +0200
Message-ID	<ytBai-1y7-7@gated-at.bofh.it> (permalink)
References	(5 earlier) <ytgIx-5mz-1@gated-at.bofh.it> <ythOi-607-3@gated-at.bofh.it> <ytus9-5wf-5@gated-at.bofh.it> <ytvHz-6te-13@gated-at.bofh.it> <ytvRf-6wE-7@gated-at.bofh.it>
Organization	linux.* mail to news gateway

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On Sat 10 Aug 2019 at 21:19:31 (+1200), Richard Hector wrote:
> On 10/08/19 9:10 PM, deloptes wrote:
> > Richard Hector wrote:
> > 
> >> <rant>
> >> Sorry, this usage grates with me.
> >>
> >> $amount cheaper that $price means subtract $amount from $price
> >>
> >> $x times $price means multiply $price by $x
> >>
> >> so "2 times cheaper (than $450)" is:
> >>
> >> $450 - (2 x $450) = -$450.
> > 
> > so what multiplied  by 2 gives 450? 
> > 
> > 450     is      100% or 1
> > 225     is      50%  or 1/2
> 
> Right, so 225 is 50% cheaper, or half cheaper. Not twice cheaper.
> 
> > perhaps this is the confusion, cause we are using daily language to refer to
> > maths.
> 
> Daily language is the problem, yes. I'm not saying my fight is an easy
> one :-)
> 
> > In fact I would do it the other way around.
> > 
> > initial price   x
> > 1xtime          x+(1*x)
> > 2xtimes         x+(2*x)
> > 
> > this gives x=150
> 
> 450 is two times more expensive than 150 (or 200% more than), or three
> times as expensive as 150 (or 300% as expensive).
> 300 is two times as expensive as 150, or 100% more expensive than 150
> 
> We know that these don't work symmetrically; if you have a 50% discount,
> you can't get the original price back by adding 50%, because it's 50% of
> a different number.

"Expensive" is a dimensional term, like length and time. "Cheap" is in
a different category, like shortness. A 6-inch nail is twice as long
as a 3-inch nail, but one doesn't say the latter is twice as short.

But if someone asked for a nail twice as short as this (holding up a
6-inch nail), you might assume they were a non-native speaker of
English, or you might notice you're almost twice as tall as they are:
ie it's a child. (And it would be polite to offer them a 3-inch
nail. Learning all the categories takes time, and some people might
have slightly different boundaries.)

It's pretty obvious that Reco's meaning for cheapness was meant to be
understood as a reciprocal cost and not as a discount. It might be a
legitimate idiom in some parts; who knows.

One hears stories of pedants insisting they be paid to carry goods out
of the shop because they were labelled "10x cheaper". No way José.

Cheers,
David.

Thread

Server hardware advice. Steven Mainor <steve@degga.net> - 2019-08-07 07:40 +0200
  Re: Server hardware advice. Richard Hector <richard@walnut.gen.nz> - 2019-08-07 08:00 +0200
    Re: Server hardware advice. Steven Mainor <steve@degga.net> - 2019-08-07 08:10 +0200
      Re: Server hardware advice. Nektarios Katakis <nektarios@mail.nektarioskatakis.xyz> - 2019-08-07 12:20 +0200
        Re: Server hardware advice. mick crane <mick.crane@gmail.com> - 2019-08-07 14:10 +0200
      Re: Server hardware advice. deloptes <deloptes@gmail.com> - 2019-08-07 17:00 +0200
        Re: Server hardware advice. Michael Stone <mstone@debian.org> - 2019-08-07 17:10 +0200
          Re: Server hardware advice. deloptes <deloptes@gmail.com> - 2019-08-07 17:20 +0200
            Re: Server hardware advice. Michael Stone <mstone@debian.org> - 2019-08-07 17:40 +0200
            Re: Server hardware advice. ghe <ghe@slsware.net> - 2019-08-07 17:50 +0200
            Re: Server hardware advice. Celejar <celejar@gmail.com> - 2019-08-08 00:20 +0200
        Re: Server hardware advice. Steven Mainor <steve@degga.net> - 2019-08-07 18:50 +0200
          Re: Server hardware advice. deloptes <deloptes@gmail.com> - 2019-08-08 07:50 +0200
            Helpful attitude (was: Server hardware advice.) Nicolas George <george@nsup.org> - 2019-08-08 11:00 +0200
              Re: Helpful attitude (was: Server hardware advice.) Kenneth Parker <sea7kenp@gmail.com> - 2019-08-08 12:50 +0200
                Re: Helpful attitude (was: Server hardware advice.) Jonas Smedegaard <jonas@jones.dk> - 2019-08-08 14:10 +0200
                Re: Helpful attitude (was: Server hardware advice.) Dan Ritter <dsr@randomstring.org> - 2019-08-08 16:20 +0200
                Re: Helpful attitude (was: Server hardware advice.) Jonas Smedegaard <jonas@jones.dk> - 2019-08-08 17:00 +0200
                Re: Helpful attitude (was: Server hardware advice.) deloptes <deloptes@gmail.com> - 2019-08-08 17:20 +0200
                Re: Helpful attitude (was: Server hardware advice.) Jonas Smedegaard <jonas@jones.dk> - 2019-08-08 18:00 +0200
                Re: Helpful attitude (was: Server hardware advice.) Judah Richardson <judahrichardson@gmail.com> - 2019-08-08 21:50 +0200
                Re: Helpful attitude (was: Server hardware advice.) deloptes <deloptes@gmail.com> - 2019-08-09 00:50 +0200
                [OT] Helpful attitude (was: Server hardware advice.) <tomas@tuxteam.de> - 2019-08-09 10:00 +0200
                Re: [OT] Helpful attitude (was: Server hardware advice.) Étienne Mollier <etienne.mollier@mailoo.org> - 2019-08-09 11:20 +0200
                Re: [OT] Helpful attitude (was: Server hardware advice.) <tomas@tuxteam.de> - 2019-08-09 11:50 +0200
                Re: [OT] Helpful attitude (was: Server hardware advice.) Étienne Mollier <etienne.mollier@mailoo.org> - 2019-08-09 12:30 +0200
                Re: [OT] Helpful attitude (was: Server hardware advice.) tomas@tuxteam.de - 2019-08-09 14:40 +0200
                Re: [OT] Helpful attitude (was: Server hardware advice.) Étienne Mollier <etienne.mollier@mailoo.org> - 2019-08-09 15:50 +0200
                Re: [OT] Helpful attitude John Hasler <jhasler@newsguy.com> - 2019-08-09 15:50 +0200
                Re: [OT] Helpful attitude The Wanderer <wanderer@fastmail.fm> - 2019-08-09 16:00 +0200
                Re: [OT] Helpful attitude Larry Martell <larry.martell@gmail.com> - 2019-08-09 16:10 +0200
                Re: [OT] Helpful attitude Étienne Mollier <etienne.mollier@mailoo.org> - 2019-08-09 16:10 +0200
                Re: [OT] Helpful attitude John Hasler <jhasler@newsguy.com> - 2019-08-09 17:30 +0200
                Re: [OT] Helpful attitude Étienne Mollier <etienne.mollier@mailoo.org> - 2019-08-09 19:00 +0200
                Re: [OT] Helpful attitude deloptes <deloptes@gmail.com> - 2019-08-09 18:30 +0200
                Re: [OT] Helpful attitude Brian <ad44@cityscape.co.uk> - 2019-08-09 20:50 +0200
                Re: Helpful attitude (was: Server hardware advice.) Curt <curty@free.fr> - 2019-08-08 22:20 +0200
                Re: Helpful attitude Richard Owlett <rowlett@cloud85.net> - 2019-08-09 16:10 +0200
                Re: Helpful attitude (was: Server hardware advice.) ghe <ghe@slsware.net> - 2019-08-09 08:20 +0200
                Re: Helpful attitude (was: Server hardware advice.) Gene Heskett <gheskett@shentel.net> - 2019-08-09 09:20 +0200
                Re: Helpful attitude (was: Server hardware advice.) "Bob Crochelt" <rfc56@fastmail.com> - 2019-08-09 14:00 +0200
                Re: Helpful attitude (was: Server hardware advice.) Gene Heskett <gheskett@shentel.net> - 2019-08-09 16:20 +0200
                Re: Helpful attitude (was: Server hardware advice.) "Bob Crochelt" <rfc56@fastmail.com> - 2019-08-10 00:00 +0200
              Re: Helpful attitude (was: Server hardware advice.) rhkramer@gmail.com - 2019-08-08 14:10 +0200
  Re: Server hardware advice. Reco <recoverym4n@enotuniq.net> - 2019-08-07 09:00 +0200
    Re: Server hardware advice. john doe <johndoe65534@mail.com> - 2019-08-07 09:40 +0200
      Re: Server hardware advice. Jonas Smedegaard <jonas@jones.dk> - 2019-08-07 10:50 +0200
    Re: Server hardware advice. Jonas Smedegaard <jonas@jones.dk> - 2019-08-07 10:30 +0200
      Re: Server hardware advice. Reco <recoverym4n@enotuniq.net> - 2019-08-07 11:00 +0200
        Re: Server hardware advice. Jonas Smedegaard <jonas@jones.dk> - 2019-08-07 11:10 +0200
      Re: Server hardware advice. Steven Mainor <steve@degga.net> - 2019-08-07 12:10 +0200
        Re: Server hardware advice. Jonas Smedegaard <jonas@jones.dk> - 2019-08-07 12:50 +0200
      Re: Server hardware advice. jochen-2019-q2@ozark.de - 2019-08-07 22:40 +0200
      Re: Server hardware advice. Andrei POPESCU <andreimpopescu@gmail.com> - 2019-08-08 09:30 +0200
        Re: Server hardware advice. John Hasler <jhasler@newsguy.com> - 2019-08-09 05:20 +0200
          Re: Server hardware advice. Steven Mainor <steve@degga.net> - 2019-08-09 08:00 +0200
            Re: Server hardware advice. John Hasler <jhasler@newsguy.com> - 2019-08-09 15:40 +0200
              Re: Server hardware advice. deloptes <deloptes@gmail.com> - 2019-08-09 18:20 +0200
                Re: Server hardware advice. Reco <recoverym4n@enotuniq.net> - 2019-08-09 19:00 +0200
                Re: Server hardware advice. Celejar <celejar@gmail.com> - 2019-08-09 19:20 +0200
                Re: Server hardware advice. Reco <recoverym4n@enotuniq.net> - 2019-08-09 20:30 +0200
                OT "x times cheaper", was: Re: Server hardware advice. Richard Hector <richard@walnut.gen.nz> - 2019-08-10 10:00 +0200
                Re: OT "x times cheaper", was: Re: Server hardware advice. deloptes <deloptes@gmail.com> - 2019-08-10 11:20 +0200
                Re: OT "x times cheaper", was: Re: Server hardware advice. Richard Hector <richard@walnut.gen.nz> - 2019-08-10 11:30 +0200
                Re: OT "x times cheaper", was: Re: Server hardware advice. David Wright <deblis@lionunicorn.co.uk> - 2019-08-10 17:10 +0200
                Re: OT "x times cheaper", was: Re: Server hardware advice. Richard Hector <richard@walnut.gen.nz> - 2019-08-11 00:50 +0200
                Re: OT "x times cheaper", was: Re: Server hardware advice. mick crane <mick.crane@gmail.com> - 2019-08-11 09:50 +0200
                Re: OT "x times cheaper", was: Re: Server hardware advice. Curt <curty@free.fr> - 2019-08-11 12:00 +0200
                Re: Server hardware advice. John Hasler <jhasler@newsguy.com> - 2019-08-09 19:50 +0200
                Re: Server hardware advice. Steven Mainor <steve@degga.net> - 2019-08-10 04:00 +0200
    Re: Server hardware advice. Steven Mainor <steve@degga.net> - 2019-08-07 12:00 +0200
      Re: Server hardware advice. Reco <recoverym4n@enotuniq.net> - 2019-08-07 13:00 +0200
  Re: Server hardware advice. David Christensen <dpchrist@holgerdanske.com> - 2019-08-08 09:10 +0200
    Re: Server hardware advice. John Hasler <jhasler@newsguy.com> - 2019-08-08 15:20 +0200
    Re: Server hardware advice. Celejar <celejar@gmail.com> - 2019-08-08 15:50 +0200
      Re: Server hardware advice. Dan Ritter <dsr@randomstring.org> - 2019-08-08 16:30 +0200
        Re: Server hardware advice. Jonas Smedegaard <jonas@jones.dk> - 2019-08-08 17:00 +0200
          Re: Server hardware advice. Reco <recoverym4n@enotuniq.net> - 2019-08-08 17:30 +0200
            Re: Server hardware advice. Jonas Smedegaard <jonas@jones.dk> - 2019-08-08 18:20 +0200
              Re: Server hardware advice. Steven Mainor <steve@degga.net> - 2019-08-08 22:50 +0200
                Re: Server hardware advice. Dan Ritter <dsr@randomstring.org> - 2019-08-08 23:10 +0200
                Re: Server hardware advice. Michael Stone <mstone@debian.org> - 2019-08-08 23:20 +0200
        Re: Server hardware advice. David Christensen <dpchrist@holgerdanske.com> - 2019-08-09 00:10 +0200
  Re: Server hardware advice. Igor Cicimov <icicimov@gmail.com> - 2019-08-09 12:20 +0200

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