When people say 3 fold, they mean 3 times. I think fold should mean 2^3. When yo...

When people say 3 fold, they mean 3 times. I think fold should mean 2^3. When you fold a piece of paper, it doubles each time.

So on the news when they talk about a 10 fold increase, I know they mean 10 times and not 1024 times.

Does anyone else here feel the same, or is fold just another confusing colloquialism?

Well, when you fold something you don't necessarily have to fold it in half.