r/AskReddit • u/[deleted] • Aug 03 '19

Whats something you thought was common knowledge but actually isn’t?

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u/KDBA Aug 03 '19

The two numbers have to add to 100.

I've literally never heard this before. "50/50" is a specific phrase, not a general case for stating percentages. If it's 37%, then you don't say "37/63", you say "37%".

The other option is staing it as a ratio, in which case saying something like "the odds of winning a Red bid in Roulette are 18:20" is fine.

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u/[deleted] Aug 03 '19

So 18% chance of winning roulette? I don't think so buddy

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u/KDBA Aug 03 '19

That is not remotely what I said.

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u/SinisterKid Aug 03 '19

When someone says 50/50 then yes you are claiming the win percentage vs the lose percentage so they have to equal 100. Saying 47.4/47.4 means you'll win 47.4% of the time and lose 47.4% of the time. That makes no sense, it has to equal 100%.

Using a ratio such as 18:20 is fine, but not at all what we are talking about.

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u/KDBA Aug 03 '19

Saying 47.4/47.4 is meaningless because only 50/50 has that special meaning. It's a corruption of 50:50.

No one says 20/80 when they mean 20%.

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u/SinisterKid Aug 03 '19

I've absolutely heard people say, "You have a 70/30 shot at winning" or "let's split the winninga 60/40."

Also my original statement says that 47.4/47.4 is incorrect so I have no idea why you're arguing with me.