> I bet if you asked how many feet are in a mile, most
> would respond 5280. It
> tends to be a trivia question.  At least it is in
> the US.  Most people here
> know about 100 yards as it is the length of a
> (American) football field.
> Most do not know how many yards are in a mile.

I'd comment further that, in the US, the yard is
generally used for measurement in specific instances,
American football being the first one that comes to
mind and golf courses a close second.  Carpeting is
usually priced by the square yard, although some
places are moving to the square foot, to make the
price appear lower.  

But as a rule, Americans do not express a random
distance between two points in yards, they would
probably use feet or miles.

Stephen Gallagher

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