SEARCHING for metaphors to illuminate the meaning of numbers can all too often lead writers into dark places. Mary Vango, for example, was a bit surprised by what the magazine of the UK consumer rights group Which? had to say in a report on food packaging: “The average bacon packet was nearly 15 grams and we [in the UK] eat about 50 million packets of bacon a year. That’s 7500 tonnes of packets, the equivalent of 50 blue whales.”
We can’t help thinking: “Mmm – blue whale rashers.” We also can’t help thinking, like reader Jeff Gottfred (24…
