> The poster was only asking for something that would improve clarity.
This is not true. There is no issue of clarity if I say "the effect of losing a leg on quality-adjusted life years is four times smaller than the effect of smoking", or at least, no ambiguity about how the two numbers I'm thinking of relate to each other (numbers wholly invented). The poster was asking us to conform to his personal peeves.
This is not true. There is no issue of clarity if I say "the effect of losing a leg on quality-adjusted life years is four times smaller than the effect of smoking", or at least, no ambiguity about how the two numbers I'm thinking of relate to each other (numbers wholly invented). The poster was asking us to conform to his personal peeves.