>From the ISO 8601 forum ----- Original Message ----- From: BudaiEndreistvan To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Tuesday, 2003-01-07 20:40 Subject: Re: [ISO8601] More comments from B., Andrew
----- Original Message ----- From: Adam To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: 2003 01 08 02:13 Subject: Re: [ISO8601] More comments from B., Andrew A "hash" is another name for the "number sign" or "pound sign" (US calls it pound, UK calls it hash). It looks like this: # I have no idea why the US calls it the "pound sign" because it is NOT used in weights. "lb" is used for those pounds. Thanks for this tidbit of info, Longman should have had it as the UK version of the pound sign. In America, it is considered a bit old fashioned, but still used by farmers and fishers as pounds of. I.e.: Get 2# flour, 3# corn and 10# pork meat. the Farmers' Almanac and other traditional sources will use it in print, others - like grandma in the family - only on paper with a pencil. Another observation: Opponents of the metrication in Canada in the past broguth up the fact that traditional units are one- or two-syllable words, easy to pronounce and remember, like inch, pound, pint; gallon, mile, yard (even for cubic yard). However, the living langauge developed its own variants of simplified terms. Today, a Canadian supermarket checker calls out on the intercom: "Price check on 10 key gee of Robin Hood flour", or "two-fifty grams of peanuts", "500 mil [mL] of Dairyland sour cream" etc. A morning traffic reporter will say that the traffic is slowed to about thirty clicks [30 km/h] on such and such highway. The language can simplify itself by the abbreviations invented by its users. Most other countries, like Australia and South Africa, have dealt with this in a natural and easy way - only the US finds reasons to cling to the past forever. B. Andrew
