Like it or not, the term "kilo", (pronounced keelo) is unofficially in English speaking countries, recognized as being a shorter way of saying kilogram.
Similarly, the word "click" or "klick" is an unofficial shorter way of saying "kilometer". I wonder if it's an aversion to speaking words longer than two or three syllables, much the way peoples' names are often shortened (Mike for Micheal, Rob for Robert). Did you notice, that most of the ifp units are only one syllable words, where most of the SI ones are not? It could be that a "small" part of the resistance to change to SI in the English speaking world is influenced by a linguistic aversion to words with that take more time to pronounce. I'm not promoting the usage of these unofficial terms, but they are used that way, whether we like it or not. Stephen ----- Original Message ----- From: "Pat Naughtin" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "U.S. Metric Association" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: February 6, 2002 03:55 Subject: [USMA:17973] Re: Un-define non-SI (was RE: Voting for SI) > Dear Stephen and All, > > on 2002/02/05 21.30, Stephen C. Gallagher at [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > > <snip> > > >> Is kilo a nickname for kilogram or kilometre or kilolitre or kilotonnes? > > > > kilogram. > > So there I was driving a few kilos down the road past my neighbours farm. It > looked like he had irrigated with a few kilos of water since last night. > > When I got to town I picked up a few kilos of seed and ordered a few kilos > of fuel for our on-farm storage; while I was there I checked the kilos of > air in the tyres and then travelled the twenty kilos back to the farm. > > 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 > -- >
