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On Saturday 02 January 2016 15:06:37 Alan McKinnon wrote: |
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> "half as big again" means "50% larger than". |
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That is, take the original measure, add one-half of it again and you have |
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1.5 x the original. |
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> i.e. calculate 50% and add it, making the total 150%. |
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> It's an English idiom, so don;t try to figure it out from each word, |
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> just recognize the whole phrase. English is full of that shit. |
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That's too rude. Rather, I'd say it's rich with all manner of idioms, all of |
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which are expressive and help to make the point clear. Tough on people new |
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to the language, but that's life. Numerous invasions and occupations by |
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foreign peoples have contributed to what we see today. |
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In contrast, Americans are set on destroying all this richness, I suppose in |
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the interest of "simplicity", which introduces either ambiguity or ugliness |
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instead. They've already practically scrapped four whole verb tenses, and |
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now adverbs are going the same way. |
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Pigs and whistles, indeed. |
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-- |
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Rgds |
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Peter |
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