>by the way, I think with metrication should also come > >1. international road signs >2. 24 h clock usage >3. replacing the word mileage with kilometrage (french pronounced) >4. no MM/DD/YYYY any more replace it with YYYY-MM-DD >5. no metrication of pound/pint to 500 g/mL
1, 2 & 4 I support 100%. 5 I could live with, but I'd prefer to see the term disappear completely. However, point 3 I would disagree with. Consider that the word "plumbing" is still used for pipes, even when the pipes are no longer made of lead (plumbum is latin for lead). Similarly prescription spectacles are still referred to over here as "glasses" even though they are now normally made of plastic. The term "mileage" can easily remain part of the language, meaning the gauging of distance, while the units after which it was named can fade into history. Our company expense forms refer to "mileage" but the distance quoted is in km. Also: * you can still "fathom" out something (i.e. see into its depths) without having recourse to the obsolete unit of that name. * you can still "inch" closer to something in centimeters. * if you take something "with a grain of salt" you can do so without realizing that a grain was a former unit of weight. Changing "mileage" is unnecessary. It is also counterproductive. Question: is insisting that "mileage" be replaced by a French word likely to endear or alienate Americans to/from the metric system ? (Hint: even before the current political climate). ------------------------------------------------------------------- Tom Wade | EMail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] EuroKom | X400: g=tom;s=wade;o=eurokom;p=eurokom; Unit A2 | a=eirmail400;c=ie Nutgrove Office Park | Tel: +353 (1) 296-9696 Rathfarnham | Fax: +353 (1) 296-9697 Dublin 14 | Disclaimer: This is not a disclaimer Ireland | Tip: "Friends don't let friends do Unix !"
