Comment by veqq

Comment by veqq 11 hours ago

7 replies

In English, x or time(s) after a number marks a "unit" used by various verbs. A 10x increase. Increase by 10x. Go up 10x. Some of these verbs are negative like decrease or save. "Save 10x" is the same as "divide by 10". Four times less, 5 times smaller etc. are long attested.

happymellon 4 hours ago

Thats not how English works.

Saved 10x would imply there was an amount being saved that they multipled.

adammarples 11 hours ago

No, x literally means multiply. It doesn't somehow also mean divide. They should use the percent sign, it's what it is for. 10x my costs means 10 x mycost, it's literally an equation

  • veqq 10 hours ago

    It's just inversion, like 2 to the power of 2 or 2 to the power of negative 2. These negative words inverse it just the same. You may dislike it, but millions of people have spoken this way for a long time.

    > x literally means multiply

    And some use the dot operator or even 2(3) or (2)(3). When programming, we tend to use *.

jaredhallen 11 hours ago

Agree to disagree.

  • ffsm8 6 hours ago

    It's basically multiplication with fractions, just like you get 1/4 from 1/2 * 1/2, which is once again a multiplication that turns into division

    I agree that it's a suboptimal and click baity way to phrase it though...

    • imp0cat 4 hours ago

      Exactly, it's multiplication.

      Example: He was saving $10 every month before the change. Then he switched and now he is saving 10 x $10, ie $100 every month.

      But that's not the case here, right? And that's why the parent post is correct.

    • [removed] 5 hours ago
      [deleted]