Question

Suppose the lengths of the lengths of two strings are 10 centimeters and 17 centimeters. Describe how the lengths of these two strings compare.

Answer 1

Let's just say that the string that is 10 cm long is string A and the string that is 17 cm long is string B. Because 10 < 17, string A is shorter than string B. Conversely, because 17 > 10, string B is longer than string A.

Answer 2

-- The lengths of the two strings are not equal.
   They are different.

-- The 10-centimeter string is shorter than the 17-centimeter one.

-- The 17-centimeter string is longer than the 10-centimeter one.

(I'll bet you knew all of those things, but you were
afraid to say them because it's math and everybody
thinks that math is hard.  Am I right ?)