On 2007 Jan 17 , at 6:12 PM, Pat Naughtin wrote:
The government uses 'metric conversion' to mean converting TO the
metric
system while many in the public use 'metric conversion' to mean
converting
FROM the metric system to old pre-metric measures.
I don't think so, Pat. Changing anything from one unit to another is
called conversion just as much as changing from using one system of
measurement to using another is also called conversion. It really
doesn't matter what the original units are, or what the new units are.
For example, changing from feet to inches is "converting units",
generally, or "converting from feet to inches", more specifically.
So obviously, converting from Olde english units to metric is called
conversion, whether it is one measurement (converting 3.5 feet to
106.68 cm) or large amounts of data (converting all the planetary
distances relative to the sun from miles to gigametres). Converting
the other way, from metric to Olde English, is also conversion.
Which of these would be called "metric conversions"? I think
converting INTO metric would be more likely to be called metric
conversion, but one could argue either way, I suppose. Frankly, I
think the phrase "metric conversion" (when used in reference to
converting from one unit to another) is ambiguous. I think it would
have to be called "metric to English conversion" or "English to
metric conversion"
Conversion can also mean changing from one religion to another,
changing valuable assets into cash money, converting euros into
dollars, converting a car with a roof into a car with no roof (a
convertible), converting one's telephone use from land lines to cell
phones, and many other things. "Convert" and "conversion" are English
words which are not limited to use in the discussion of changing a
country's system of measurement from Old English units to SI metric
ones.
