Dear Stephen, Stephen, and All, This is an item from 'Metrication matters 17' See: http://metricationmatters.com/newsletter and scroll down to 'Metrication matters 17.
7 Q&A Question What is the correct name for old measures? On the USMA mailing list, I have seen them referred to as WOMBAT and FFU, but these don't make any sense to me. Answer WOMBAT and FFU are simple derogatory terms invented by members of the United States Metric Association (USMA). WOMBAT was created by Paul Trusten, the editor of 'Metric Today, and it stands for Ways of Measuring Badly in America Today. I don't recall who invented FFU, but it stands for Fred Flintstone Units, and it is clearly intended to suggest that it's time we moved on from there. I must admit that I have enjoyed using these derogatory terms, but I think that better - and a lot more courteous terms - are pre-metric and pre-SI. Pre-metric applies to all the old measures in use before the 1790s, and pre-SI refers to all the old units, including old metric units used since 1960 when the International System of Units (SI) was adopted all around the world. Examples of pre-metric measures are acres, barrels, bushels, feet, inches, ounces, pounds, and yards. Examples of pre-SI units are abampere, dynes, gauss, gilbert, maxwell, microns, oersted, and statampere. Cheers, Pat Naughtin ASM (NSAA), LCAMS (USMA)* PO Box 305, Belmont, Geelong, Australia Phone 61 3 5241 2008 Pat Naughtin is the editor of the free online monthly newsletter, 'Metrication matters'. You can subscribe by going to http://www.metricationmatters.com and clicking on 'Newsletter'. * Pat is the editor of the 'Numbers and measurement' chapter of the Australian Government Publishing Service 'Style manual � for writers, editors and printers', he is an Accredited Speaking Member (ASM) with the National Speakers Association of Australia, and a Lifetime Certified Advanced Metrication Specialist (LCAMS) with the United States Metric Association. on 2005-01-04 03.01, Stephen Gallagher at [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > --- Stephen Humphreys <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > >> >>> This type of activity was the death knoll for FFU. >> >> What's FFU > > FFU or Fred Flintstone Units, is a slang term > (in some pro-metrication groups) for the current > systems of measurement being used in the US ( > and a few other countries) at this time. > > Stephen Gallagher >
