[USMA:36876] RE: Wyeth footage

[Martin Vlietstra]

One saying that always amuses me is "Give him an inch and he will take a mile".  Until early Victorian times, the saying was "Give him an inch and he will take an ell".   The ell was a measure (usually of cloth), which varied between 0.5m and 1.50, depending on where and how it was being used.  In the United Kingdom, the ell was omitted from the list of units defined by Acts of Parliament that made up the Imperial system (1824) while the Weights and Measures Act of 1878 made it illegal to use the ell (at least for trade).  Over the course of time, people forgot what an ell was and the word was corrupted to "mile" ----- Original Message ----- From: Bill Hooper To: U.S. Metric Association Sent: Tuesday, May 30, 2006 2:15 AM Subject: [USMA:36868] RE: Wyeth footage On 2006 May 26 , at 12:31 PM, Bill Potts wrote:   ... snip ...   But I'm less concerned about the use of generally archaic terms which no longer are strictly correct. Regards, Bill Hooper Fernandina Beach, Florida, USA ==========================    Make It Simple; Make It Metric! ==========================