proportional 

Corresponding

The crime should be proportional to the punishment.

proportional by Ronnie 65 February 19, 2018

proportional representation

Just a side note: If you aren't familiar with the various electoral (voting) systems around the world, please do not read this as the wording may confuse you.

An electoral (i.e., voting) process in which full representation of all parties who have received votes is achieved by closely matching the percentage of party votes to the percentage of seats allocated in legislative assemblies.

There are 3 known ways of achieving proportional representation (PR) in electoral systems.

1. Party-List PR: There's a list of pre-determined candidates (closed-list) or candidates that the voters can rank (open-list), along with some mathematical formula of allocating the seats (D'Hondt or Sainte-Lague). Countries which use Party-List PR include Israel (where the country is one closed-list constituency) and the Netherlands (open-list).
2. Additional-Member System (AMS), Mixed-Member System (MMS): Two votes, one vote for a legislator (MP -- Member of Parliament -- in places like the UK and New Zealand) to represent a single-member constituency (under plurality voting), the other vote for a party (under party-list PR). In places like Germany, a certain number of seats are blockaded off for party-based legislators. Besides Germany, New Zealand uses this (along with calculating party-list seats via the Sainte-Lague method) for its House of Representatives.
3. Single Transferable Vote (STV) (in a multi-member constituency): Usually 3 to 6 candidates per constituency. Voters number their ballot according to their preferences. The first preferences are calculated first and candidates must achieve a quota (determined by the number of votes and the number of vacant seats) in order to be elected; if none of them meet the quota, the lowest-voted candidate gets eliminated and his/her 2nd preferences allocated to the next candidate, etc., until all the constituency seats are filled. Australia uses this to elect its Senate (upper house).

The 1998 Jenkins Commission in the UK also suggested a broadly-PR type of voting system called Alternative Vote Top-Up, a variant of Additional-Member/Mixed-Member where voters number their ballot according to preferences to determine an electorate MP in single-member constituencies (just like Australia's preferential voting for its House of Representatives). The other vote is a party vote, candidates on that list for each county.

A few notes on proportional representation:
1. Parties are less likely to gain majorities in legislative assemblies, very likely resulting in coalition governments.
2. Third parties, which are often disadvantaged under FPTP (first-past-the-post), often want PR so they can get more seats but not necessarily a majority. Examples being the UK's Liberal Democrats and Canada's NDP.

For more on PR, just type "proportional representation voting" in your favorite search engine.

If a party wins 45% of the popular vote, it'd be entitled to 45% of the seats under the basic concept of proportional representation.

Party-List PR is where you vote for a party (closed-list) or number candidates on a list (open-list).

Additional-Member PR or Mixed-Member PR is where you get two votes, one for your electorate, the other for a party.

Single Transferable Vote is where you rank candidates and they have to achieve a quota based on votes and vacant seats in multi-member constituencies in order to be elected.

The 1998 Jenkins Commission recommended Alternative Vote Top-Up as an alternative to the UK's current First-Past-The-Post (a.k.a. plurality winner, winner-take-all) voting system.

Political parties are less likely to achieve majorities in legislative assemblies under PR than they would under First-Past-the-Post plurality voting.

A few political parties crying for PR include the UK's Liberal Democrats and Canada's NDP (New Democratic Party). (And another side note: Even Jello Biafra, when he was trying to become the U.S. Green Party's 2000 presidential candidate, wanted to convert the U.S. Congress from the current two-party FPTP system over to PR as he said in his speech to party faithful that year.)

proportional representation by Obscure Anomaly July 17, 2006

Proportional Sovereignty

Proportional Sovereignty
noun
When you finally realize you are not the main character in other people’s emotional soap operas and stop trying to run the universe from your nervous system.
A chill, mature form of not giving a fuck — where you care deeply about your own stuff and absolutely refuse to carry anyone else’s psychic groceries.
The opposite of: • “Everyone must like me”
• “I must fix everyone”
• “Why is everyone so mad at me??”
Example:
“I made the weird art, posted it, and went to sleep. That’s proportional sovereignty.”
Also known as: emotional adulting, boundary wizardry, inner landlord energy.
Symptoms include:
Fewer arguments
Less explaining yourself
More naps
Saying “okay” and walking away
Peaceful face while chaos happens nearby
Warning: May cause sudden loss of interest in drama, guilt, and group chats.
Usage in the wild
“He didn’t clap back, didn’t spiral, just drank water and moved on. Proportional sovereignty.”
“She stopped managing her coworkers’ feelings and suddenly her skin cleared up. Proportional sovereignty.”
“That’s not arrogance, that’s proportional sovereignty, calm down.”

I made the weird art, posted it, and went to sleep. That’s proportional sovereignty.”

Proportional Sovereignty by Heymuse December 30, 2025

Dyslexicly proportional

xy is dyslexicly proportional to yx.

The law of dyslexic proportionality states that any numbers or letters that are directly transposed can be constituted as correctly documented based on the leeway of human error.

Student: While reviewing the results of my math test I want to prove that my answer is dyslexicly proportional to the correct answer.

Teacher: Really; what do you mean by dyslexicly proportional?
Student: Yeah, look; my answer was 53 & the correct answer is 35.

Teacher: I see your point; I’ll give you full credit for this.

Dyslexicly proportional by Tom Stillin November 9, 2012

Inversely proportional 

The opposite to directly proportional. A mathematical relationship between two things that can be given by the equation y = k/x, where k is a constant value.
In other words, as one increases, the other decreases by the same amount.

Produces a sloped curve going downwards to a plateau with an x- axis asymptote.

The speed of an object is inversely proportional to the time taken to travel the distance.

Inversely proportional by Mickey_G_ February 26, 2021

directly proportional 

immediately the relation of one thing to another in size degree or amount

girl: your smexxiness is directly proportional to the number of tatoos you have
boy: really??? i'm going to get another..
girl: heeeyyyy...

your level of hotness is directly proportional to how little clothing you have on...and how big your boots are

directly proportional by nina & 'lissa March 25, 2007

Directly proportional 

A mathematical relationship between two things that can be given by the equation y = kx, where k is a constant value.
In other words, when one object increases, another increases by the same amount.

The chance of toast hitting the buttered side-up is directly proportional to the cost of the carpet.

Directly proportional by Mickey_G_ February 26, 2021