Before the BIPM/CGPM make any recommendations, they will have to be satisfied that:
1. The recommended changes are used in a number of different cultures 2. A symbols is in use that can be understood by all cultures. For example, the symbol "km/h" is pretty univesral even though the word "hour" is written "uur" in Dutch, "stunden" in German an "ora" in Italian. Likewise, the UK word "kilometre" is written "kilometer" in the US, "chilometro" in Italian and "Quilimetro" in Portuguese. (I am not too sure about the Italian and Portuguese spellings). The BIPM/CGPM does not concern itself with the way in which the unit is written or spoken, only about the international symbol used. If a particular culture wish to use the word "klick" for the unit of measure that has the compound symbol "km/h", that is outside the scope of the BIPM/CGPM's mandate. If however there is a wish to replace teh symbol "km/h" with some other symbol, then the BIPM/CGPM would be interested. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Jim Elwell" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "U.S. Metric Association" <[email protected]> Sent: Friday, March 31, 2006 11:03 PM Subject: [USMA:36415] Re: Units used in popular science books: buy Canadian > > The metric system does not need defense, it merely needs its > promoters to recognize that there are areas where it could be > improved and made more usable. My examples of short/long names for > measures were not intended to say that US customary measures are > better in general -- they clearly are not. > > My point was that metric measures WILL be shortened for convenience > (and other list members posted more examples). And if the BIPM/CGPM > does not accommodate and formally accept this, they will simply be > ignored where expedient. > > Another way of saying this is that Table 3 of BIPM's SI document > (Derived Units with Special Names) should be expanded with reasonable > expediency, to help control the proliferation of such names. The > proliferation cannot be stopped by ignoring it; by embracing it there > will be at least an international body trying to manage it. > > >Let me count syllables in some length measures. > > > >I count, at the very least, 19 syllables in: > >quarter of an inch, half an inch, (a lot of other fractions go here), inch, > >link, foot, yard, rod, pole, perch, chain, furlong, mile. > > You are presuming no one will say "half a kilometer" or "a quarter of > a meter." And that is the same mistake as thinking people will not > say "klik" rather than "kilometer." > > Halves, quarters, eights are very convenient in every day use, and > the SI standard discouraging their use is fruitless. 99.999% of the > population of the world will never read the SI standards, and will > merrily go on using "quarter meter" and "half liter". > > And, "one eight meter" has 4 syllables, while "two hundred fifty > millimeters" has 9 syllables. > > Jim > > > Jim Elwell > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > 801-466-8770 > www.qsicorp.com >
