I have. I’m answering your question of what they mean when they use that construction. I don’t like it, either, but that’s what is meant.
Best is to ask for clarification. Even when it’s “obvious” what the phrase should mean, that doesn’t mean it’s being used correctly. Two anecdotes:
I once had a businessman friend who was a friend of Alex; he told me to shop for jewelry at Alex’s Jewels and I’d get a 300% discount!
I went to one of the Alex Jewel shops (and quickly decided I was not in the market for an emerald necklace) but without ever mentioning that I’d once had dinner at Alex’s house, the saleslady offered me 1/3 price on everything: I could walk away with the ฿300,000 necklace for a mere ฿100,000. So that’s what “300% discount” meant.
I was amused during the 1997 financial crisis: When the baht/dollar ratio went from 26 to 39 the Bangkok Post reported that “the baht has lost half its value.” Hmmm. Well, 39 minus 26 is half of 26.
But they weren’t consistent: The baht/dollar ratio soon went all the way to 52 and the Post did not report that “the baht has lost all its value”! 
^^And it was cheap at half the price!
I was on another message board a while back where someone said “The number of murders declined by 400 per cent.” I asked him if they have found a way to bring dead people back to life. He got mad at me and called me ignorant. :rolleyes:
It’s just more of the dumbing of America. The same people who say 300 per cent less are probably the same ones who say they “could care less”.
No to the first, and yes to the second, and I could care less.
Newton was renowned for unclear writing. *Opticks *was his first published work in English, and was written to be intelligible by the lay reader. So it’s not the greatest example.
John makes $25.09 / hr
Example:
According to Trump, Hillary Clinton got 3 times less votes than he did.
So 3 times less = 4.5545748519% more.