What percentage would you say "almost all" means?

Question

Having an argument with a friend. He says he "missed almost all" of a TV series. We are arguing over how much the almost all is likely to mean. I think it means he missed the majority of the series but he's claiming that the only thing "almost all" means is that he missed at least 50% of the series. Said it's likely to be more than 50% but that's all you can say for certain. I, on the other hand, would infer that almost all means he definitely missed more than 50% and most likely missed 75% or more. Opinions?

Answer 1

There are too many variables here. Context is important, so is the source of the remark, so is the magical believability factor. You need to ask yourself is he usually believable? Does he exaggerate? Is it likely?



For instance:



If my wife says she has done almost all the housework she probably has. 90%

If the kids say they've done almost all their homework, this is frankly quite unlikely. Less than 50%

Since I've just come back from the pub and I've drunk almost all the beer I can afford, by the way, I don't give a monkeys.

Answer 2

Amusingly enough, terms like "almost all" and "almost every" have a precise meaning in the mathematical subject of "measure theory", which lies at the foundation of probability theory. In that context, one says that a property holds for "almost every" element of a set if the probability of selecting an element with that property is 1. Thus the precise answer to your question in the abstract is that "almost all" means 100%. As an example, it turns out that almost every real number is irrational, meaning that if one randomly chooses a real number then it will be a rational number (of the form a/b where a and b are integers) with probability 0.



Of course, it doesn't sound like you and your friend were having a discussion about measure theory. That being said, there is a mathematical theory which deals with the kind of question you are asking; it is called fuzzy logic, and it is very important in economics and computer science. Fuzzy logic deals in general with situations where absolutes are not appropriate; so in your case, the meaning of the absolute statements "I missed all of the TV series" and "I missed none of the TV series" is clear, so fuzzy logic aims to make precise intermediate statements like "I missed almost all of the TV series" and "I hardly missed any of the TV series". So I suppose you could try to turn your question into a precise mathematical problem if you really wanted to.



Still, I'm guessing you were just looking for opinions. I would say that "almost all" in this context has to mean well over 50%, because the word "most of" should be reserved for the just over 50% range. So if he missed 51% of the series he could say "I missed most of the TV series", but I think he would have to miss at least 85% or so before he missed "almost all" of it.

Answer 3

I'd tend to agree wih you. More than 50%, probably more than 75%.



Most series have say 22 episodes (sometimes 13). So let's say he missed 12. That is 'most', but he still caught 10. I wouldn't say 'almost all'



Say he missed 16 (around 75%). Only seeing 6, I think that would qualify as 'almost all' being missed.



But it's really subjective. If this was a drama series with a continuing story line (say 'Rome'), seeing only 6 would leave him completely out of the loop. But if it's just a comedy series, it really wouldn't matter that much, he can enjoy what he sees, without 'missing' anything.

Answer 4

Since 'almost all' has no mathematical definition,it comes down to English usage and it can be argued that something means what you want it to mean. A sure recipe for poor communication and misunderstanding. I would have interpreted 'almost all' as being at least 90% plus.

Answer 5

75% to 80% is definitely a good minimum for almost all. 2/3 is the majority in Congress to pass something, so they need "almost all" to pass it, or 66%. I think 75% is a reasonable for "almost all", but 50-65.99% seems a little unreasonable

Answer 6

Considering he said AT LEAST 50%, that covers from 50% to 100%

Answer 7

In your context it means they probably saw one prog 10 or less. In another context I would suggest at least 99%.

If they saw lust less than 50% then I would say they are better decribed as missing over half. of the series.

Answer 8

It varies. A design engineer uses the rule of the 5th/95th percentile. Basically it will satisfy 90% of a population's needs, which is deemed as almost all. So a design engineer's answer is 90%.



A statistician will say differently.

Answer 9

I would say 90%. Almost means to me means very nearly.



It it was around 50% I'd say half.

Answer 10

i,think he missed only the most important turning point of the series on one seen

Answer 11

50% is only half, and "almost all" will definitely mean more, to me anyway. 80% at least, if not 85%.

Answer 12

I would say almost all would be more than 75% or he would have said three quarters!

Answer 13

I just started noticing mine. I went from 9% Last Week, to 10% this week and it sometimes goes to 11%. It really makes me think I answer too many questions.

Answer 14

about 90%

Answer 15

almost all sounds like he 'caught' a bit, like one or two episodes so anything above 75% sounds about right.

Answer 16

"Almost all" is a rather vague term but it would certainly mean considerably more than 50%.

Answer 17

I would say about 75% or upwards.

Answer 18

yeah anything higher than 70%

Answer 19

95% i wud say

Answer 20

I would reckon 99.9%

Answer 21

yeah,what they said!

Answer 22

99.9999999999999999%

Answer 23

85/90%.............