ambiguity - Succinct and understandable term when "turn up"/"turn down" is ambiguous



In particular, think of the home air conditioner or the power setting on the kitchen refrigerator: the intensity of effort is opposite to the numbering of the related quality. So "Turn up the air conditioner" can be interpreted as a request to set it colder (make the machine work more) or warmer (change the control to a larger number).


What terms would be good to use instead, that are grammatically equivalent so they are drop-in replacements and don't require re-arranging the sentence, are succinct, and are understandable (even if not immediatly familiar) by folks lacking a Chirchhillesque vocabulary? And, the whole point is that they are completely unambiguous. Ideally the pair of terms should match nicely, but that's not necessary.


I know the confusion can be avoided by phrasing it differently, and that's what I actualy do if I notice it. But I've wondered if there's a better term that could be used in this place that is simply not ambiguous at all.




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