Two Times Less than half

This one gets to me.  I can't recall how many times I've had a student say "It was 2 times less..."  leaving me slapping my head to restart my brain.  This phrasing is counterintuitive in American English, sending my mind in one direction only to reverse course in another.  In everyday English we do not use multiples to describe a fraction.  The reason for my brain injury mentioned above is that when you do phrase something like this and I hear "2 times" I immediately think, in a nanosecond, "ok, we are talking about some number larger than another." but then "less" enters my ears and all hell breaks loose.  "ABORT! ABORT! REVERSE COURSE!" go the voices in my head. 

Here is an example.

"The cat is 2 times more than the banana."  When I hear "times" my brain is signaled to expect a larger number.  In American English multiples, indicated by "times", mean greater numbers.  

On the other hand, if I say "The banana is half as much as the cat." the fraction "half" immediately lets you know that I'm speaking of a lower number.  Your brain is much happier.  Any fraction will work of course.  

We can also use percentages such as "The banana is 50% less than the cat." with the same meaning.  

"But Bruuuuuuuuuce, I love to speak in multiples.  I just have to use multiples." you might say and my response is that you could always reverse the objects and save everybody a lot of grief.  Instead of "My boyfriend is two times younger than me." you can say "I am two times older than my boyfriend."

So, when speaking English, keep the multiples in the plus columns and apply your power of division and percentages to talk about lower numbers.  Everybody's brain will thank you.