I got the same feeling when I read it too. I felt he was more upset with the "exactness" of conversion that some people seem to do. A thousand yard stare could just as well been a 1000 m stare and not lost a hint of the meaning. At least he knew that the 1 mile per gallon was the US gallon and converted it correctly. He could have assumed it was the old imperial gallon and said it was equal to 282 L/100 km.
Funny how 100 m is always converted to 100 yards in the English language press but 100 yards becomes 90 m in other languages. "the whole nine yards." There is and probably never will be a metric equivalent of the latter. What about "the whole 10 m"? But to say you wouldn't touch something with a 3.05-metre pole - that's a whole different league (5.56 kilometres). I would say a 10 m pole, and I usually do. As for league, I don't think it is a length unit in this application but more in tune with a sports league or a team. Euric ----- Original Message ----- From: "Bill Potts" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "U.S. Metric Association" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Sunday, 2004-05-30 18:34 Subject: [USMA:30010] RE: the metric system and jokes > As far as I can see, the writer is merely satirizing the compulsive act of > conversion. I don't interpret his article as a criticism of metric usage as > such (just of the use of conversion where it isn't even required). > > His criticism is of any arbitrary and unnecessary conversion, including that > of currency. > > It's obviously silly to convert figures of speech, such as "in for a penny, > in for a pound" (where, unfortunately, he used the avoirdupois pound, rather > than the currency) and In time, it will probably die out > and be replace with more contemporary expressions. Outside the metrication > arena, for example, "half a bale shy of a load" (as a description of someone > who isn't quite with it, mentally) has morphed into things like "a few fries > short of a Happy Meal." Urban people aren't familiar with bales of hay, so > are more likely to understand the latter. > > Bill Potts, CMS > Roseville, CA > http://metric1.org [SI Navigator] > > > >-----Original Message----- > >From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > >Behalf Of Paul Trusten > >Sent: Sunday, May 30, 2004 14:37 > >To: U.S. Metric Association > >Subject: [USMA:30009] the metric system and jokes > > > > > >IMHO, a huge ongoing PR problem with metric in the United States > >and also in > >metricating countries is its being the butt of jokes, usually having to do > >with conversion between systems, and not usually involving the use of the > >metric system alone. Here's a current classic from Australia: > > > >http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/05/30/1085855438557.html > > > >I'd love to hear some discussion about this. I think this is a very > >important metric issue! Thanks. > > > >-- > >Paul Trusten, R.Ph. > >3609 Caldera Blvd., Apt. 122 > >Midland TX 79707-2872 USA > > > > > > > >
