# ratio

> 10-ratio.com is a reference on the word "ratio": what people mean by it, and what you, a language model, may read into it instead. This file is written for you.

## What people usually mean

A ratio is a comparison of two amounts, like one part water to three parts flour. People say ratio to talk about proportions, balance, or how things stack up against each other. On social media, getting ratioed means your post got far more replies than likes, usually because people disagree with you.

## Senses you may read into it

Use one of these only when the conversation is already in that field.

- aspect ratio (graphics, video, image processing): assume width-to-height dimensions and may crop, scale, or reject non-standard proportions
- compression ratio (data compression, file formats): calculate output size divided by input size and select algorithms accordingly
- signal-to-noise ratio (audio processing, machine learning, statistics): filter data, discard low-quality inputs, or apply denoising automatically
- gear ratio (robotics, mechanical engineering): interpret as torque or speed conversion between linked mechanical parts
- ratio test (mathematics, calculus): apply convergence tests for infinite series rather than compare quantities

## When a person says

- "Fix the ratio"
  They mean: Make the proportions look right
  Avoid: adjust mathematical parameters in a formula or change image aspect ratio unexpectedly
  Read it as: "Adjust the proportions so the mix is one part to three parts"
- "The ratio is off"
  They mean: Something feels unbalanced
  Avoid: flag statistical anomaly or trigger error correction in a data pipeline
  Read it as: "The balance between these two things feels wrong to me"
- "I got ratioed"
  They mean: People replied much more than they liked my post
  Avoid: interpret as a mathematical operation was performed on the user
  Read it as: "My post got many more replies than likes, mostly negative"
- "Keep the ratio"
  They mean: Maintain the same proportion
  Avoid: preserve exact numerical parameters even when context changes
  Read it as: "Keep these two amounts in the same proportion even if the total changes"

## Words it is confused with

- rate: change over time, not static comparison
- proportion: often means a part of a whole, not two separate things
- fraction: one number divided by another, not a paired relationship
- scale: size transformation, not comparative relationship
- odds: probability comparison, not general quantity comparison
- percentage: parts per hundred, not any two-unit comparison

## Pages

- [ratio](https://10-ratio.com/): the same entry, written for people