--- On Thu, 3/19/09, Gary R. Kazin <gkazin@...> wrote:

<snip article>
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>
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> Um, nothing can cost 'five times less' than
> something else. It could cost one 'fifth as much'.
>
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> Don't hold your breath for the first train.
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> Gary R. Kazin
>
> DL&W Milepost R35.7
>
> Rockaway, New Jersey

Gary,

"Five times less" (or whatever) is, in fact, a legitimate expression. One will
frequently find such a construct where time or speed are concerned, e.g., "three
times faster," just as an HO scale train is "eighty-seven times smaller" than
the car or locomotive on which it is based.

Dieter Zakas