Dear List: On a somewhat related topic of bowlderized usage, I have noticed that American reporters or other Americans on TV or radio will use expressions such as "a third of a kilometer" based upon (I assume) the existing usage with miles. In this context, a kilometer becomes an opaque (albeit fuzzy) "equivalent" of a mile and is treated as such rather than as a multiple of the meter. If those speakers really understood "kilometer" as a multiple of the meter, I presume they would prefer to say something like "300 meters" instead of "a third of a kilometer".
I'm just wondering whether this sort of "Imperialized" usage (best term I can think of at the moment) has cropped up in other formerly Imperial countries (like Australia or, dare I include it, the UK? ;-), how the public was educated (if indeed it was) about rational SI usage instead, and whether this "Imperialized" usage has ever shown up in countries that have been metric for a very long time (such as France, etc.). Any thoughts or relevant experiences from out there to share? Ezra Pat Naughtin wrote: > Dear Han, > > Your expression 'lineal km' strikes me as being redundant (if not > tautological). > > Since length, in SI, has only one unit the metre and the metre is the > only dimension for length, then you don't need to note that km measures > length by adding ^1 to km to form the symbol km^1. > > If you use the expression km^1 you are saying that the one dimensional unit > of the quantity length the km is one dimensional. > > As I said, either the first of these is redundant (or tautological) or the > second of these is tautological (or redundant). Sorry for the confused way > that I've written this, but I never fully understood the difference between > tautological and redundant if any. > > By the way, I once posted a notice on my office door that said: > > Department of > Tautological Redundancies > Department > > Apply Without > > Cheers, > > Pat Naughtin > LCAMS - Lifetime Certified Advanced Metrication Specialist > - United States Metric Association > ASM - Accredited Speaking Member > - National Speakers Association of Australia > Member, International Federation for Professional Speakers > -- > > on 12/10/03 7:06 AM, Han Maenen at [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > > > Pat, > > > > Yes, that was a nice example you gave and that kind of thing gave rise to > > people who wanted change, like Simon Stevin and John Napier, who stood up a > > few hundred years before decimal money and the metric system made their > > debut. > > > > I got a remark from another list member about the 16 km^1. Although the > > length of our storaged archives looks like hidden ifp trash, it is not. Of > > course, the BWMA would love it if the archives in continental Europe and > > other metric countries used yards and miles as standard units. Too bad for > > them, no way. These 16 km^1 are purely co-incidental. Soon we will take over > > the archives of Dutch Roman Catholicism, 9 linear km, that will increase our > > storage to 25 linear km. > > > > As I cannot use superscript in Outlook Express I have written the symbol of > > linear km as km^1. > > > > The cities of Arnhem and Nijmegen are planning to build a very large storage > > room for public records and archives on a location between both cities. > > > > Best greetings, > > > > Han > > > > > > ----- Original Message ----- > > From: "Pat Naughtin" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > > To: "U.S. Metric Association" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > > Sent: Thursday, 2003-10-09 10:27 > > Subject: [USMA:27143] Re: Curiosity from the archives > > > > > > on 2003-10-09 03.15, Han Maenen at [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > > > > <snip> > >> Many financial calculations were made in Roman numerals and the money was > > not decimal as well. Present day archivists and researchers get in trouble > > with this stuff and have to master Roman numerals and non-decimal > >> calculations. > > > > Dear Han, > > > > It makes you realise the genius of Simon Stevin, when you consider his > > physical and intellectual surroundings. > > > > I can remember one of his papers bemoaning the severity of calculating > > something like, 'What is the result of investing 324 pounds, 12 shillings, > > and 4 pence ha'penny for 17 years 8 months and a week at 3 7/8 per cent?', > > when all calculations were done in Roman numerals. As I remember it the > > answer had a whole number with a 13 numeral numerator above a 17 numeral > > denominator. > > > > I didn't check his calculations for accuracy I took Simon's word for it! > > > > However, I did think at the time that many hundreds of intellectually gifted > > people must have been employed on these terribly pointless tasks. It's no > > wonder that Simon Stevin was so delighted when he developed decimal numbers > > and decimal calculations in 1585. > > > > Cheers, > > > > Pat Naughtin LCAMS > > Geelong, Australia > > > > Pat Naughtin is the editor of the free online newsletter, 'Metrication > > matters'. You can subscribe by sending an email containing the words > > subscribe Metrication matters to [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > -- > >
