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User Name Thread Name Subject Posted
Nigel Parsons BS: Me, myself, and I (72* d) RE: BS: Me, myself, and I 06 Feb 14

From: JohnInKansas - PM
Date: 02 Feb 14 - 09:45 PM

The most universal LIE in English is the use of the comparative "times more than."

If an original quantity is 5, then two times the original is 10.
Two times more than the original quantity is 15. Since the expression is used both ways (although rarely correctly) it is impossible to tell what is meant by it.

I saw an advert on tv the other night for Fairy Liquid (a washing up liquid). It did a comparison test with 'another leading brand' and got schoolchildren to lay out the cleaned plates on trestle tables to compare the cleaning power.
The advert claimed that Fairy liquid went 'two times further' whereas the film made it clear that it only went 'two times as far'.

Very misleading!

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