The US Metric Association Guide and the Federal Metric Style guide are
meaningless except for use by people like ourselves. It is the general
style guide for press associations and the NAB which is used by virtually
ALL newspapers, magazines etc. in the US. The US Government doesn't require
or enforce metric style. The fed's metric style guide is unreadable for
practical purposes.
See my comments on the er vs re spelling in other emails.
Stan Doore
----- Original Message -----
From: "Bill Hooper" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: "U.S. Metric Association" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Sent: Saturday, February 14, 2004 11:07 AM
Subject: [USMA:28684] RE: Metric in Montgomery Co.
Stan Doore wrote:
> the printed press style manual standards of writing mandate that liter
> and meter spelling be used.
WHOSE style manual is that? Is it the Associated Press Style Manual? Or
the federal government style manual? It is not the US Metric
Association Style guide.
I don't know for sure about the AP style guide, but I know that some
rule (perhaps the federal government style guide, if there is such a
thing) requires federal govt. docs to use the meter-liter spelling.
But I also know that the USMA stye guide ("Metric Units of Measure and
Style Guide) uses the metre-litre spelling. It does not address this
issue by stating it as a rule, but it intrinsically approves the -re
spelling by its practice of using it.
I do know that some other publications of USMA are written using the
-er spelling because they are used by federal agencies. Federal
agencies would not adopt them if the -re spelling were used. USMA gave
up the battle on that one in hopes of ultimately winning the war. Even
in those publications, however, there is usually a disclaimer someplace
stating that the -re spellings are also correct.
Regards,
Bill Hooper
Fernandina Beach, Florida, USA
