Nor does the construction industry have the problem of "creeping sizes" when a clothing manufacturer notes that its customer base is aging and expanding, so it expands the sizes so she can continue to say, "I'm a size 8; I've always been a size 8; show me something in a size 8!" No wonder they have to try on everything.
Carleton -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Phil Chernack Sent: Saturday, May 28, 2005 20:31 To: U.S. Metric Association Subject: [USMA:32961] RE: Use of millimetres Of course the construction industry does not have the problem of vanity. Tell me you are going to tell women that they wear a size 635 I think you are crazy. Not in this world where we have size 0 and size 00. As for shoe sizes, Japan uses cm and it makes sense. Shoe sizes are sized every few centimeters anyway just as each shoe size in the U.S. does not represent an inch more, sizes overall are not precise measures of foot size. Phil -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Pat Naughtin Sent: Saturday, May 28, 2005 5:15 PM To: U.S. Metric Association Subject: [USMA:32957] Use of millimetres Dear All, Yesterday, I received an email that contained this observation: > The only thing I have to think twice about seems the > Aussie practice of using mm for large measurements. I would personally > never think "650 mm" when I am cutting a piece of wood for something that is > 65 cm long. But I have a tape measure that is written that way and I find > it very annoying to use. And when they say in car manuals that the > wheelbase is umpteen zillion mm, I mentally have to adjust it to meters or > cm. Here is my response: I have made an analysis of the various occupations in Australia and the length units they prefer to use. From the 113 occupations listed by the Australian Bureau of Statistics, the results are as follows: 90 occupations - millimetre users Aircraft Maintenance Engineer (Avionics), Aircraft Maintenance Engineer (Mechanical), Aircraft Maintenance Engineer (Structures), Automotive Electrician, Binder and Finisher, Blacksmith, Boat Builder and Repairer, Bricklayer, Broadcast Transmitter Operator, Business Machine Mechanic, Cabinetmaker, Cable Jointer, Carpenter, Carpenter and Joiner, Communications Linesperson, Computing Support Technician, Dental Technician, Drainer, Electrical Engineering Technician, Electrical Powerline Tradesperson, Electrician (Special Class), Electronic Engineering Technician, Electronic Equipment Tradesperson, Electronic Instrument Tradesperson (Special Class), Electroplater, Engraver, Farrier, Fibrous Plasterer, Fitter, Flat Glass Tradesperson, Floor Finisher, Furniture Finisher, Furniture Upholsterer, Gasfitter, Gem Cuter and Polisher, General Communications Tradesperson, General Electrician, General Electronic Instrument Tradesperson, General Fabrication Engineering Tradesperson, General Mechanical Engineering Tradesperson, General Plumber, Glass Blower, Graphic Pre-Press Tradesperson, Greenkeeper, Gunsmith, Jeweller, Joiner, Leather Goods Maker, Lift Mechanic, Locksmith, Mechanical Engineering Technician, Mechanical Services and Airconditioning Plumber, Medical Grade Shoemaker, Metal Casting Tradesperson, Metal Fabricator (Boilermaker), Metal Machinist (First Class), Metal Polisher, Motor Mechanic, Optical Mechanic, Painter and Decorator, Panel Beater, Patternmaker-Grader (Clothing), Piano maker, Piano Tune, Precision Instrument Maker and Repairer, Pressure Welder, Printing Machinist, Refrigeration and Airconditioning Mechanic, Roof Plumber, Roof Slater and Tiler, Saw Maker and Repairer, Screen Printer, Sheetmetal Worker (First Class), Shipwright, Shoemaker, Signwriter, Small Offset Printer, Solid Plasterer, Stonemason, Textile, Clothing or Footwear Mechanic, Toolmaker, Upholsterers and Bedding Tradespersons (nec), Vehicle Body Maker, Vehicle Painter, Vehicle Trimmer, Wall and Floor Tiler, Watch and Clock Maker and Repairer, Welder (First Class), Wood Tradesperson (nec), and Wood Turner. 10 occupations - cm and inches users Apparel Cutter, Baker, Chef, Chef - Head Chef, Cook, Dressmaker, General Clothing Tradesperson, Pastry Cook, Picture Framer, Sail Maker, Screen Printer, and Tailor. 6 occupations - cm, feet and inches users Canvas Goods Maker, General Gardener, Head Gardener, Landscape Gardener, Nurseryperson, Tree Surgeon 7 occupations where length measures are less important Butcher, Buttermaker or Cheesemaker, Confectioner, Hairdresser, Smallgoods Maker, Supervisor, Hairdressers, Supervisor, and Meat Tradespersons. 90 occupations = 80 % 10 occupations = 9 % 6 occupations = 5 % 7 occupations = 6 % 113 occupations = 100 % The reason I carried out this survey was because I had had the opportunity to work on the metrication programs of several building trades where the metrication program was quick, smooth, and relatively cheap (typically completed in less than a year). This was before I moved to the textile and clothing industries where the metric transition is still muddled, bitter, and enormously expensive (nowhere near completion after 35 years and counting). In comparing these metric transitions, I was immediately struck by one significant difference: the building industries had all chosen the millimetre as their small length unit and the textile industries had all chosen the centimetre as their small length unit. Despite this clear observation it took me years (I must be a slow learner) before I realised the reason for this profound difference. If you choose millimetres as your small length unit you immediately achieve two other effects: you remove all references to vulgar fractions (such as halves, 1/16ths, and mixed numbers such as 3 7/8) and you also remove all references to decimal numbers (such as 1.2, 2.34, or 3.456). For many folk in the building industry (many of whom have limited numeracy) this was a considerable advantage in adopting the metric system for all their length measurements - the issue of larger numbers proved, in practice, to be quite insignificant. And this benefit then carried over to their other measurements such as grams, kilograms, millilitres, litres, watts, and kilowatts. Without the prefix centi none of these quantities necessarily involve fractions on a building site. On the other hand, the choice of centimetres in the textile industry gave no such clear advantage to textile and clothing workers. The halves and quarters formerly applied to inches were simply transferred to half centimetres and quarter centimetres. In addition, as a further impediment, textile and clothing workers had the added disadvantages of decimal fractions of centimetres (which they had never used before) and, even worse, all the problems of converting between decimal centimetres and fractions of inches to suit their large stock of old patterns. It's no wonder that they have almost universally chosen to revert to inches and fractions of inches because they believe that they understand them better than this (to quote a shirt maker) 'new metric muck'. I suppose that I have only made these observations because I have had the opportunity of working with many companies as they made (or tried to make) their metric transitions, firstly in the building trades and then later in the textile and clothing trades. I would take great care with your choice of small units if you are helping with metric transitions as centimetres can seem initially an obvious choice but their long term effects can prove to make a metric transition remarkably difficult. 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. This email and its attachments are for the sole use of the addressee and may contain information that is confidential and/or legally privileged. This email and its attachments are subject to copyright and should not be partly or wholly reproduced without the consent of the copyright owner. Any unauthorised use of disclosure of this email or its attachments is prohibited. If you receive this email in error, please immediately delete it from your system and notify the sender by return email.
