David Lai Haha, I was trying to describe it as relative comparisons. For example, when we say something is 10 times better than something else, it's not literally "10 times" as in being measured. If Pete can't even understand this linguistic device, then I'm sad for him.
I’m sorry, but this “linguistic device” you talk about is at best vague!
If you say X is ten times better than Y, then you better have some data to support that; because we don’t deal with ambiguity ‘round here, and it could be that X is only 5, or 20, or even 100 (you name it) times better!
You do know that with your kind of ‘linguistic logic’ we will crash upon landing on Mars? So no, “Houston” can’t simply say to the astronauts “you’re about ten feet from landing on Mars,” they have to be exact, to the letter, and precise!