cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/50434194
Proton VPN’s pricing page exposed an ab-test identifier linked to two VPN Plus prices: €2.99/month (70% off) and €3.49/month (65% off). Repeated testing produced B → A → B → A → B, with the variant matching the rendered price each time. €12 difference over 24 months.
I don’t think we understand each other.
To me, several times shorter makes perfect sense, and twice as short is a special case, where it is two times as short. Thus, several times shorter includes:
As i write these out, i realize what you were trying to say: X times shorter is equivalent to X times as short for me, so equivalent that I didn’t realize when I was using one or the other.
You are saying that for some people, the “X times shorter” construction doesn’t sound natural. I can respect that, but it doesn’t seem like a part of mainstream English to me at least.
“Twice shorter” isn’t what anyone is talking about. That isn’t how you combine the words, at least to me.
Ah thanks for spelling it out for me. English isn’t my mother tongue, so for me both several times shorter and twice shorter felt somehow wrong. So I thought they were equally wrong. Thanks for explaining!