>From my knowledge of South African slang, where they speak of "k's", it can means eihter kilometres of km/h, depending on the context. Remember, it is is a slang term, not a dictionary term.
----- Original Message ----- From: "Philip S Hall" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "U.S. Metric Association" <[email protected]> Sent: Saturday, April 01, 2006 11:51 PM Subject: [USMA:36430] Re: Units used in popular science books: buy Canadian > The term "click" is not very helpful. > > I recall watching an American War movie some time ago in which that term was > used extensively. The Director did not see fit to dropping any hints in the > dialog as to what it meant and I was left not knowing what they were talking > about. > > I can tell you that it was being used as a unit of distance not speed, so > presumably (with hind-sight) meant kilometre. > > So it would appear that there is some confusion over it even on this forum. > Some of you may contend it means km/h but how do you prove it? Is it > documented anywhere? > > Finally I would like to express my firm support for what Martin said > (reproduced below). Colloquial expressions like the above are not the > concern of SI or the International committees that define it. So please > don't drag them into it. > > I would only add that the unit names in Table 3 are chosen to provide a more > concise symbol for commonly used and relatively complex compound units. I > doubt that the monosyllabic nature of the purely English pronunciation has > much to do with it. > > Phil Hall > > -----Original Message----- > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf > Of Martin Vlietstra > Sent: 01 April 2006 12:14 > To: U.S. Metric Association > Subject: [USMA:36426] Re: Units used in popular science books: buy Canadian > > 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 > > > > >
