3 ms·

This is one of my hobby horses. 1/1 is a fraction. Don't say something is a fraction, say it's a small fraction, or express it in ppm or something

powvans 8y ago
Perhaps, in this case, the fraction is closer to 1/1 than they care to admit.
scarejunba 8y ago
Languages work this way when the meaning is unambiguous. No one is going to say "I used to live in London in the United Kingdom. The big one". No one's going to always say "So desu ne". No one's going to say "a small fraction" when "fraction" will suffice. It's natural language. Conciseness is high value.
- ardy42 8y ago
  > It's natural language. Conciseness is high value. But in this case the imprecision could very well be deliberately weasely. The kind of people whose job it is to offer official comment are also the ones whose profession is to exploit the ambiguity of natural language to lead you to think one thing while the reality is a less obvious interpretation.
  - RyJones 8y ago
    Exactly my point. Confusing is with the common understanding when they mean something else. They aren't lying, exactly.
- Dylan16807 8y ago
  But in this situation, it's still a useless statement. Is 1/5 a small fraction? Yeah, I guess. Would 1/5 be a ridiculously huge amount of fraud? Also yes! It really needs to be quantified.
- bdsa 8y ago
  Not to correct you as such, more to share a nice word: "concision" is a bit more pleasing than "conciseness" in my opinion.
  - EForEndeavour 8y ago
    Today you taught me a new English word, but I couldn't help but smile at the irony of the word's Wikipedia page (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Concision https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Concision): > Concision (alternatively brevity, laconicism, terseness, or conciseness) is the cutting out of unnecessary words while conveying an idea.
  - scarejunba 8y ago
    Funny story but I actually used that all the time till someone told me it wasn't a word and I believed them. Truth set adjusted. Thank you. It sounds so much more natural.
    - bdsa 8y ago
      It does. People have a weird tendency (it's not that weird I guess, it's the same "force" that means less frequently used verbs are more likely to have regular conjugations) to just use <adjective>ness when there are so many beautiful words out there... Don't get me started on "comfortableness".
86carr 8y ago
I'm glad I'm not the only one that has a problem with this phrase. I feel liberated to start mentioning it now.
- RyJones 8y ago
  Don't get me started ;) I'm sure Amazon has stats on fraudulent transactions; would it hurt them to say "two sales per thousand are fraudulent"? Also, the light that burns twice as bright burns one eighth as long.

powvans 8y ago

Perhaps, in this case, the fraction is closer to 1/1 than they care to admit.

scarejunba 8y ago

Languages work this way when the meaning is unambiguous. No one is going to say "I used to live in London in the United Kingdom. The big one". No one's going to always say "So desu ne". No one's going to say "a small fraction" when "fraction" will suffice. It's natural language. Conciseness is high value.

ardy42 8y ago
> It's natural language. Conciseness is high value. But in this case the imprecision could very well be deliberately weasely. The kind of people whose job it is to offer official comment are also the ones whose profession is to exploit the ambiguity of natural language to lead you to think one thing while the reality is a less obvious interpretation.
- RyJones 8y ago
  Exactly my point. Confusing is with the common understanding when they mean something else. They aren't lying, exactly.
Dylan16807 8y ago
But in this situation, it's still a useless statement. Is 1/5 a small fraction? Yeah, I guess. Would 1/5 be a ridiculously huge amount of fraud? Also yes! It really needs to be quantified.
bdsa 8y ago
Not to correct you as such, more to share a nice word: "concision" is a bit more pleasing than "conciseness" in my opinion.
- EForEndeavour 8y ago
  Today you taught me a new English word, but I couldn't help but smile at the irony of the word's Wikipedia page (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Concision https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Concision): > Concision (alternatively brevity, laconicism, terseness, or conciseness) is the cutting out of unnecessary words while conveying an idea.
- scarejunba 8y ago
  Funny story but I actually used that all the time till someone told me it wasn't a word and I believed them. Truth set adjusted. Thank you. It sounds so much more natural.
  - bdsa 8y ago
    It does. People have a weird tendency (it's not that weird I guess, it's the same "force" that means less frequently used verbs are more likely to have regular conjugations) to just use <adjective>ness when there are so many beautiful words out there... Don't get me started on "comfortableness".

86carr 8y ago

I'm glad I'm not the only one that has a problem with this phrase. I feel liberated to start mentioning it now.

RyJones 8y ago
Don't get me started ;) I'm sure Amazon has stats on fraudulent transactions; would it hurt them to say "two sales per thousand are fraudulent"? Also, the light that burns twice as bright burns one eighth as long.