On Sun, 2 May 1999, The Shaws wrote: > All this talk of units. > > I needed a piece of wood - exactly 2 metres long. > We buy wood in the UK in metric lengths, but imperial > thickness, so > "2 metres of 4 by 2 please" (4 inches by 2 inches) > "Sorry, we only have it in 1.8 metre or 2.2 metre lengths" > "Why is that?" > "We cut it in metric lengths to the nearest foot!"
Very good!! Puts me in mind of an old (US) joke: A couple of hicks pull up to a lumber yard in their pickup truck. One gets out, goes up to the desk, and tells the clerk: "We need some four-by-twos!" The clerk asks "Do you mean two-by-fours?" The fellow goes back to the truck, talks with his buddy for a few minutes, and returns to the desk. "Yep, them'll do OK!" "Well, how long do you want them?" Back to the truck again, for another discussion. Upon return, he says: "Quite a while - we's buildin' a house!" Dave
