4 ms·
> the vast majority of the time "wrong" and "correct" are only defined by what people actually say - if people mainly say "101% increase" to mean "new value =
by jcelerier 2y ago
> the vast majority of the time
"wrong" and "correct" are only defined by what people actually say - if people mainly say "101% increase" to mean "new value = old value * 1.01" then that's what it means whether it makes sense grammatically or not.
- ropejumper 2y agoBut the point of communication is mutual understanding. I generally agree that language is what we make it be, but in this case the wrong usage, meaning the usage that is mathematically incorrect, is causing issues. I can't just go around saying that my cat is siamese even if he's not just because I got it wrong one time and now this is what siamese means to me. Because my goal is to transmit accurate messages.
- avs733 2y agoCaveat emptor may be legal in capitalism, but it is not a great way to be a coworker which was the point.