I think 2x less is meant to be read as 'decreased by a factor of 2'. The less indicating that the factor is shrinkage instead of growth. Technically 2x less co

I think 2x less is meant to be read as 'decreased by a factor of 2'. The less indicating that the factor is shrinkage instead of growth. Technically 2x less could be the opposite of 2x more, and technically 2x more means 3 times as much. Really what I think this shows is that it is much nicer to talk about factors than it is to talk about relative in/de-creases.