he's angry at being misunderstood and is acting rude, but your comment is right on. It's such a commonplace thing to say (even if they don't really mean it literally) that I wish there was a really quick and clear way to reply. mainstream news, for instance always summarizes market moves in number of points on the DOW which is the same sort of thing if you don't all know the denominator.
maybe saying it's comparing +1 Euros to +5 Yen? of losing 1 tablespoon vs 2 teaspoons? or 5/10 to 1/2?
