Friday, November 14, 2014

multiply by double/double, multiply by 2: The Weekend Edition—Common Errors in English Usage Entry for Friday–Sunday, November 14–16, 2014

multiply by double/double, multiply by 2
If you are talking about making a number twice as large, the expression is “double” or “multiply by 2”: “double your sales to multiply your income by 2.”

You could properly say “increase by a 100%” to mean the same thing, but lots of people won’t understand that.

And definitely do not confuse people by saying “multiply by double.”

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The Week's End Extra from the Archives: "Hocking / Hawking" (November 28, 2012).

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