Newsletter and Grammar Coach

People commonly refer to ages, distances, weights and other numerical values in writing, but expression of mathematical proportions can cause a number of problems for writers and speakers, leading to ambiguity.

One such stumbling point concerns failure to observe the distinction between constructions such as “four times longer” and “four times as long.” Many people treat them as synonymous, but they differ in meaning.

Let’s walk through this to explain the distinction.

Four times longer: Suppose each weekday Earl takes his dog for a one-mile walk. But on Saturdays he increases that amount by four miles — in other words, he and the dog walk five miles. Thus, Earl’s Saturday walks are four times longer than his weekday walks — increased by four more miles (the usual 1 mile + 4 more miles = 5 miles).

Four times as long: If Earl’s weekend walks were four times as long as his weekday walks, he would have walked a total of 4 miles on Saturday (1 mile x 4 = 4 miles).

Some people might belittle the distinction between “times longer” and “times as long” as nitpicking. Conscientious writers and editors recognize the importance, however, of avoiding ambiguity in the use of these phrases.

Some text on the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum's website failed to make the proper distinction. One of the site’s pages about aeronautical materials reports that "Steel can be up to four times stronger and three times stiffer than aluminum, but it is also three times heavier."

A cubic foot of aluminum weighs 168 pounds. Material that is three times heavier would weigh 672 pounds per cubic foot. Cast steel, however, weighs 490 pounds per cubic foot. It is three times as heavy as aluminum or triple the weight of aluminum (not three times heavier).

The adjectival or adverbial suffix -fold can likewise be imprecise if used carelessly. If a growing company that previously had 10 employees announced it had increased its workforce tenfold, readers might be uncertain how many people it now employs. The company could have either 100 employees or 110 employees, depending upon interpretation. The term “tenfold” means “10 times an amount.” The ambiguity resides in uncertainty about whether the company increased its workforce tenfold, resulting in 110 employees (10 + 100) or whether its workforce grew to 100 employees — tenfold its prior size (10 x 10).

Those examples are multiplication problems. Grade-school students know that “times” signifies multiplication. Writers sometimes make figures even more complicated, however, by applying “times” constructions to division concepts.

An article comparing the durability of various types of lighting technologies reported that while LEDs have a life span of about 50,000 hours, compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs) typically last only 10,000 hours. The article described the life spans of fluorescent lamps as “five times shorter than LED lights.” Applying a multiplying factor to compare one object with something that is shorter or smaller or lighter is illogical. Subtracting even one LED life span of 50,000 hours from 50,000 results in zero. Five times zero is still zero.

The writer meant, of course, that the life span of a CFL is one-fifth the longevity, or 20% of the longevity, of an LED lamp. Or the writer could have come at it from the opposite direction: LED lamps last five times as long as CFLs. Any of those approaches would have been clearer and more precise than the description that the article writer chose.

Similarly, the National Burglar and Fire Alarm Association reported “Homes with alarm systems are three times less likely to be burglarized.” Better phrasing would be “one third as likely” — or “Homes with alarm systems have a one-in-three chance of being burglarized in comparison with homes that have alarm systems.”

The New York Times Manual of Style and Usage weighs in on this in an entry that says, “A quantity can decrease only one time by its own quantity before disappearing, and then there is nothing left to decrease further.”

Garner's Modern English Usage by Bryan Garner (Oxford University Press) contains an eloquent explanation of why an attempt at comparison using the phrase “times less than” is illogical. It says, in part, “One time is 100% of the cost, distance, size, or any other measure. If you take away ‘one time’ something, you’ve taken away all there is. If you walk toward me and cover all the distance, you can’t get any closer — you can’t be twice as close as you were before. If the price is discounted one time, or 100%, the item is free. Two times cheaper, if anything, might imply that the store will pay you the full price of Brand Y if you will take Brand X home with you.”

Characterizing Bill’s flagpole as “thee times as short as Jerome’s” makes far less sense than describing Bill’s flagpole as “one third the height of Jerome’s” or saying that “Jerome’s flagpole is triple the height of Bill’s” or “Jerome’s flagpole is three times as tall as Bill’s.”

People who defend colloquial use may insist that most readers probably would understand the intended meaning of phrasing such as “three times as short” or “four times longer.” That may be, but we remain concerned about the people who might be perplexed by such wording. We encourage specificity to avoid misunderstanding.

That’s about all we have to say about this timely topic.

Licensed marriage and family therapist Susan Curry has published her second novel within two years through EditPros’ Book Prep service. Her latest work is A Dog’s Tale — A Furry Farm Fantasy, a story about a farm family’s adventures. The tale is told from the perspective of their Australian Shepherd dog, who has a secret ability, and uses it well. Facts mingle with fantasy in ways that readers will find both engaging and exciting. The story grew out of a request from 11-year-old Isla, one of Susan’s granddaughters, to write a book for her during the COVID-19 shelter-in-place restrictions. “For once, I had time, as did she,” Susan said.

Isla had in mind whom and what the plot should include. Her list of people included a family — a mom, dad and four children — and she envisioned details of their activities and character traits. She suggested building the story around an Australian shepherd dog named Sheila who understands human language.

“Because we were separated for safety, Isla and I communicated via FaceTime. About once a week I sent her a few pages,” Susan explained. “She’s the middle child of three, a fifth-grader, and a true animal lover. Her interest in and vast knowledge of animals has grown over the years. She now fosters kittens for the SPCA prior to their adoption.”

Susan Curry, who lives with her husband in Davis, California, is the mother of three adult children. Her first book, Truth, Fiction and Lies, is a murder mystery published in November 2018 with the assistance of Book Prep.

“I’ve had so much fun writing A Dog’s Tale,” Susan said. “From the beginning I had two goals: to produce a book that Isla will enjoy and treasure, and as a suggestion that other parents or grandparents might like to try during our weeks of confinement at home.”

As part of the Book Prep package, EditPros professionally formatted the interior pages of both of Susan’s books, designed the cover for each, and readied them for print publication. EditPros also formatted and converted the book files into e-book formats for sale through Amazon (Kindle), Apple (iBooks), Barnes & Noble (Nook), and Kobo, by means of submission to IngramSpark’s e-book service.

With Book Prep, authors retain all rights to their books, and collect 100 percent of sales royalties.

Would you like to transform the book of your dreams into reality?

LEARN MORE about the EditPros Book Prep service.

Tom D. wrote:

The grammar coach replies:

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