If this is in fact how they're measuring...I was going to make this post a long rant about how ridiculous it is to measure it in that way, but then I realized t

If this is in fact how they're measuring...I was going to make this post a long rant about how ridiculous it is to measure it in that way, but then I realized that people do sometimes measure probabilities by quoting the win-to-loss or loss-to-win ratio. This is called "odds" and frequently used in gambling. Usually, though, someone says "4.7 to 1" or "47 to 10" (abbreviated 4.7:1 or 47:10) instead of 470%. Usually the larger number is stated first, and the direction is usually indicated by a word like "favorite" or "longshot." So one would say "Errors seem to be a 4.7:1 favorite today." It's slightly complicated by the fact that odds can measure one of several things: A. A probability ratio ("Red" is a slight underdog in the game of roulette [1]; the odds against hitting it are 20:18 since there are 20 non-red spaces and 18 red spaces) B. A payout ratio ("Red" pays 1:1, meaning the prize if you win this bet is equal to the amount of the bet) C. The current payout of a paramutuel pool [2] Odds are seldom used outside of a gambling context. [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roulette http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roulette [2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parimutuel_betting http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parimutuel_betting