times smaller  times lower   I never understand these terms  How can something be x smaller  I mean a box can be x larger  A box could be  smaller but nothing can be  times lower  I read the article that was cited the words used were  deaths per  personyearsonly  percent of the rate ie  expected for the general population  from that we could say the death rate was  of the expected or there was a  decrease in cancer related mortality  Can we correct these confusing terms so useful information can be conveyed