• @kromem
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    374 months ago

    Yeah. In college my friends used to make fun of my confirming attendance to things in percentages.

    “You coming to the party later tonight?”

    “Yeah, I’m like 70% sure I’ll be there”

    • @Potatos_are_not_friends
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      244 months ago

      How can someone even be mad at this?

      If you said 95% sure and didnt show up, id just think I rolled a critical fail.

      • @kromem
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        174 months ago

        They weren’t mad, they just thought it was 86% odd.

  • @zorro
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    294 months ago

    I make up random percentages for things 76.5% of the time

  • @captainlezbian
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    284 months ago

    80% here. It’s actually a great way to communicate approximate confidence

    • modifier
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      104 months ago

      This is exactly how I use it and thus, yes, when I say 100% it has real meaning to those who know me.

  • @[email protected]
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    274 months ago

    “I’m 99% sure of this.”

    “It’s 50/50.”

    “I agree with about 25% of what you said.”

    “There’s not a 1% chance you’re right.”

  • @NounsAndWords
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    234 months ago

    My favorite that trips people up is “nine times out of a hundred”

  • @over_clox
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    224 months ago

    Did you know that only 23% of social media users know how to sharpen a pencil?

    And that’s an absolute fact. I absolutely 110% pulled that fact out of my ass.

    • The Snark Urge
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      64 months ago

      There he goes, the highest dude in the fediverse

      • @over_clox
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        44 months ago

        You spelled drunkest wrong.

        But I might have some more weed around when I get home…

    • @[email protected]
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      4 months ago

      In the future,

      User: why does the pencil break every time I sharpen it?

      GPT models: Statistics, that pulled out of the ass, shows that only 23% of social media users know how to properly sharpen a pencil. This is mainly due to lack of training. Let me help you with the steps:

    • @Alexstarfire
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      24 months ago

      Given that every time my friend uses my can opener she has to ask me or figure out how to use it, I believe there are plenty of adults who don’t know how to sharpen a pencil.

      • @over_clox
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        14 months ago

        First you have to show her how to sharpen a can opener, then show her how to light a pan on fire.

        You got this 👍

        • @Alexstarfire
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          24 months ago

          You think I sharpen my own can opener? I ain’t got time for that. I hire a bunch of microscopic guys with files to do it for me.

  • @Rolando
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    164 months ago

    One call that I never will forget came at close to four A.M., waking me; he must have just gotten up in Los Angeles. His voice said, “Alex Haley?” I said, sleepily, “Yes? Oh, hey, Malcolm!” His voice said, “I trust you seventy percent” – and then he hung up.

    Afterword to The Autobiography of Malcolm X

  • @[email protected]
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    164 months ago

    Normalize this. Measure everything thing that is measurable, and make everything measurable that is not measurable. We need quantifiable communication. End linguistic quinary!

  • @Donjuanme
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    154 months ago

    I do about 80% of the time, and I try to be genuine in my approximations, and I will adjust them as more information comes in.

    And if I promise you over 100%, it’s something that I’m really excited about and that if you bail there’s x% chance I’m going to not let you out of it, or find someone to fill in your roll.

    • @[email protected]
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      34 months ago

      I answer like that when someone asks me if I’m sure about something. I only answer in increments of 5, though.

      • @[email protected]
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        34 months ago

        Yeah, being too specific just raises more questions in people.

        If I say I am 92.6% sure, they look at me funny.

        • @[email protected]
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          74 months ago

          If you ask me at what time we should meet, there’s a 78.8174% chance I’ll say somethink like “8:51” or “12:27”, then i message you shortly before and say “sorry I might be 17 seconds late” (but I’ll make a point coming precisely at the time I said)

          • @BluesF
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            24 months ago

            Bookmaker gives estimates

  • @[email protected]
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    94 months ago

    When I’m uncertain about something, I’ll often go with “I’m 76.5% sure that…” (Or some other number which reflects my confidence).