I agree.
Even younger people in radio and TV engineering refer to K.C. ("kay-cee")
and M.C. ("emm-cee"), the abbreviations for the old "kilocycles" and
"megacycles" frequency unit names, because they can be said more quickly and
easily than "kilohertz" and "megahertz." -- Jason
----- Original Message -----
From: "Jim Elwell" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: "U.S. Metric Association" <[email protected]>
Sent: Saturday, March 25, 2006 6:59 AM
Subject: [USMA:36376] Re: Units used in popular science books: buy Canadian
At 24 03 06, 09:24 PM, Pat Naughtin wrote:
The fact is that we live in a living sea of language. As promoters of the
metric system we strive to promote a single measurement method that is
clear
open and fair to all who use it. In short: 'For all people; for all time.
However, other people simply play with words as they encounter them with
little or no understanding of their underlying systemic structure.
While I agree with Pat in what he says above, I think the situation is
more complex than just lack of understanding. If you compare USC (US
customary) units to metric unit, or even "official" metric units to a
variety of "slang" metric units, one things jumps out: people tend to
like and use single-syllable units.
USC v. Metric
inch, quart, pint, yard, mile, knot
centimeter, liter, milliliter, meter, kilometer, kilometer per hour
Slang v. Metric
klick, nit, ums, carbs
kilometer, candela per square meter, micrometer, grams of carbohydrate
Or even USC v. Slang USC: "mils" instead of thousandths of an inch
Not all of these are due to ignorance; I suspect most people who use
"klick" are perfectly aware that is short for "kilometer." Certainly any
engineer who uses "nit" knows it is a candela per square meter. Any
machinist knows what a "mil" is.
My point is this: our measurement system should SERVE us, not impede us.
SI is dramatically better than any alternative from a technical standpoint
at serving us, but one of its weaknesses is the length of the various
names. Where a lengthy name is used frequently in a profession (e.g.,
nit), I think it is inevitable that some shorthand slang word will
develop. Not due to ignorance, but due to convenience.
Since I think this is inevitable, I also think we (and the BIPM) should
embrace it so we can help control it. Just hoping it won't happen is
fruitless.
Jim
Jim Elwell
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
801-466-8770
www.qsicorp.com
