One of my co-workers grew up in Puerto Rico, here is her perspective: Are they asking how mass and volume are measured in PR? To my knowledge, beer bottles are labeled with oz and things like rum with mL (isn't it the same here?); packages are weighed in pounds but they also include grams [like, ground coffee would say "16 oz/1 lb (454 g)"]. I never considered that could be for Puerto Rico's own transition to the metric system, kind of thought it was for the benefit of people in other countries where we might be exporting those products.
Many people there would tell you they bought a "liter" or milk when what they actually got was a quart, but we all know it's pretty much the same and I've always assumed that at some point liters were used so people got used to using the term and never switched, but now I'm wondering if we aren't just mixing up the systems all over. I honestly don't know that it means much to people there what a kilometer is, they'll just read it on the marker to know where they are (what I mean is I've never heard anyone in Puerto Rico say, "oh, it's X km away" or anything like that). By the way, we also measure land area in "cuerdas"; 1 cuerda = 3930.39 SM. Plans and such show property areas in either SM or cuerdas. Howard Ressel Project Design Engineer NYSDOT 1530 Jefferson Road Rochester, NY 14623 585 272-3372 NOTE: Please change your addres book my email will be howard.res...@dot.ny.gov 43,560 square feet in an acre 5280 feet in a mile 16 ounces in a pound 128 ounces in a gallon 23 confused kids in a class What could be simpler?
