>My girlfriend just got back from a week in Ireland. Since she did not >buy any packaged goods and did not pay much attention to the distance >signs on the road, her impression was that Ireland is still Imperial >except for temperature. She says that because she heard everyone >continue to use "miles", "feet" (or perhaps "yards"), "pounds" (for >mass), etc. She visited Limerick, Cork, and Killarney, then returned >home via Shannon Airport. > >Tom Wade: does this report surprise you? Sadly, not really. Most people (particularly older people) will still talk in terms of yards, miles etc. People still would be more likely to know their height in feet and inches, and their weight in stones and pounds (if you think pounds are bad, try working in 14-pounds-to-a-stone). Younger people are more likely to use meters than yards, and most people would be familiar with metric units where they encounter them. It doesn't help when most newspapers (particularly the downmarket tabloids) are metrically challenged. Certainly metric has made much further gains in visual signage than in everyday speech. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Tom Wade, EuroKom | E-Mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (all domain mailers). Dale House | X400: g=tom;s=wade;o=eurokom;p=eurokom;a=eirmail400;c=ie 30, Dale Road | Tel: +353 (1) 278-7878 Stillorgan | Fax: +353 (1) 278-7879 Co Dublin | Disclaimer: This is not a disclaimer Ireland | Tip: "Friends don't let friends do Unix !"
