on 2003-03-22 03.22, Joseph B. Reid at [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Dear Joe,
I have interspersed some remarks. > Terry Simpson wrote in USMA 25247: >> >> I tidy up of the SI system would perhaps include abandoning prefixes that >> are not multiples of 1000. So we would no longer need the following >> prefixes: 'h', 'da', 'd' or 'c'. Thus we would only need to deal with one >> anomaly of lower case i.e. 'k'. > > That is a good recommendation for engineering practice, and for building construction, furniture making, paper sizes, and for many other areas. > but the > following applications of 'h, 'da', 'd' and 'c' are commonly used: > hectare for land, Isn't the are now obsolete � in which case we are using a little used prefix, 'hecto', with an obsolete unit, 'are'. On the other hand, if we regard the hectare as a slang word (short for square hectometre) that has come to be approved for use with SI, could we then consider constructions like kilohectares and megahectares to parallel kilolitres and megalitres? > hectolitre for wholesale wine, I have never heard of the use of hectolitres of wine in Australia. Perhaps my life (despite considerable evidence to the contrary) has been sheltered from the dreaded grape! >hectogram for delikatessen foods, In Australia, we commonly see delicatessen foods sold 'per 100 grams' but nobody is aware that this refers to a hectogram � the word hectogram is simply not used. > dekanewton in mechanical engineering instead of kilogram-force, This, in my opinion, is simply sloppy practice to give an illusion to the engineers who use it that they don't really have to change their minds � sad really. > decilitre for cream and retail wine, The only time that I have seen decilitre (or for that matter centilitre) in Australia is on products that are clearly intended for the European market but have been redirected for export to Australia. Often the part of the label that refers to decilitres or centilitres is hidden by a small sticker that describes the contents in millilitres. > centiimetre in tailoring. Australian menswear tailors use the word centimetre to hide the fact that they are still working in inches. For example, a standard 'mens' or 'M' jacket is described as 97cm although it is made on the same old 38 inch patterns that the tailors have always used. Many tailors and retail salesmen are now dropping the pretence of being 'metric' and are now returning to the practice of working directly in inches. The use of centimetres has clearly not been conducive to metrication in tailoring. Cheers, Pat Naughtin LCAMS Geelong, Australia
