Madan: Although km and cm may be called abbreviations from a purely linguistic point of view, in SI they are called symbols (with these two being prefixed symbols).
In any case, though, the purpose of the short unit names under discussion is to make their pronunciation shorter (as in "liter" versus "cubic decimeter"). "km" is still pronounced kilometer, and "cm" is still pronounced centimeter, so the written prefixed symbols don't solve the problem. Bill Potts, CMS Roseville, CA http://metric1.org [SI Navigator] -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]On Behalf Of M R Sent: Tuesday, March 19, 2002 08:24 To: U.S. Metric Association Subject: [USMA:18899] Short unit names Pat Naughtin wrote "I have never heard of an abbreviation for centimetres." Just like km is for kilometer, cm is for centimeter. I believe abbreviations are used worldwide. Thats 1 of the advantages of SI. Madan Dear Jim and All, Building workers in Australia refer to 'mils' for millimetres quite regularly; that is if they use a unit at all. Usually on a building site you don't need to refer to a unit as all drawings and dimensions are in millimetres so you can simply use the numbers of millimetres without any potential for confusion. I have never heard of an abbreviation for centimetres. Maybe this is because the obvious potential abbreviation, cents, has already been used for centidollars. Cheers, Pat Naughtin CAMS - Certified Advanced Metrication Specialist - United States Metric Association ASM - Accredited Speaking Member - National Speakers Association of Australia Member, International Federation for Professional Speakers -- on 2002/03/16 09.41, Jim Elwell at [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > At 02:38 PM 3 March 2002 -0800, Madan wrote: >> As for 'inch' vs 'centimeter', people are free to use >> 'cm' instead which is much shorter and also universal. > > Those who live in all-metric countries: have people come up with a verbal > shorthand for saying "centimeter" or for saying "milliliter"? (Similar to > "kilo" for kilogram.) > > Jim Elwell > __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Sports - live college hoops coverage http://sports.yahoo.com/
