[Don W]

I’m with you on that. Not only are journalists borderline illiterate at times, they are also innumerate. Copy writers are just as bad, if not worse.

There is no such thing as five times less, there is one-fifth as much. Mrs. Olsen of Folgers fame said it correctly, but the ads that express ratios and proportions correctly are few and far between.

I see and hear this kind of poor language all the time now, on the TV, in advertisements, and in conversations of those around me.

I blame public schools and their poor language and arithmetic/mathematic training.

[Dr. Pritchett]

I knew I could draw the language police like me into the dog v cat battle! :)

I guess if journalists were smarter or better writers, they would have picked some better way to make money besides reporting stuff or rabble rousing! Zing!

I swear you guys are the only ones that keep me sane sometimes. Thanks!

[USFRIENDINVICTORIA]

I'm glad that I'm not the only one who's "peeved" by this -- only I'm five times more peeved.

Most reporters are innumerate -- but, this horrible trend got started when some "clever" (and arrogant) editor decided that the great unwashed masses couldn't handle fractions and percentages. Now, instead of saying "1/5th as much", we have "five times less" -- which makes no sense whatsoever. None.