"less is more"

i know what the phrase means to convey, and i kinda like the sound of it too, but don't you think it serves really to confuse? what does "less is more" mean? the logician in me concludes that "less = more" in which case "less than = more than" and so on, so forth.

that doesn't work. and i'd really rather that people didn't use these sort of things in speech/writing.

on the other hand, there's the aesthetician (if there's such a word, which there isn't since it just got a red squiggly under it but you know what i mean) in me that simply loves it, and uses it every chance it gets. and you can take it one further and establish transitivity with a "and more is less" addition.

crazy english-speakers. i bet it was the americans who coined it. has got to be.