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@allure interesting, in the context I would have guessed very likely to be maybe 15%.
– DonQuiKong
Commented Jun 24 at 2:46
4

@allure the context matters, not just the phrase. A default rate of 30-50% for a credit means you need to take at least 100% interest, rather much more. 80% is ridiculously high. In a different context - how likely is it that you will be able to eat the whole fish: "very likely" should be much more than 50%.
– DonQuiKong
Commented Jun 24 at 4:59
4

I think that while this does not exactly answers OP's question, it addresses from the right POV. The key is on "charging interest isn't going to offset the risk of them stealing from you"
– mrbolichi
Commented Jun 24 at 10:11
1

@DonQuiKong I'm not a native speaker, but that doesn't sound correct to me. "Very likely" is a statement of probability (an incredibly vague one, sure, but still), and probabilities are not context-dependent. Your definition of "very likely" should not dependent on how surprised you are about this probability. You are still "highly unlikely" to die in a traffic accident in any given car trip, even if the likelihood is still higher than most people would realise. In the same way, it's also not "very likely" that a friend defaults on your loan if the probability is <= 50%.
– xLeitix
Commented Jun 24 at 13:16
6

@xLeitix: Unfortunately words, and language in general, do depend on context. Three metres is not tall for a building but it is very tall for a person - the degree of "tall" very much depends on the expectation of what you're applying it too; it's not so different for "likely".
– psmears
Commented Jun 24 at 13:48

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