Thursday, March 12, 2009

I wish people would just stop using mathematical language if they don't know how

I just saw a commercial which claimed a diet supplement helped people lose "an average of up to 4 times the weight." Which is it? An average, or a maximum? Is it the highest average in a series of studies? I've been hearing this language more and more in recent times, and I'm sick of it. Can we get a bit of clarity here?