Dear Bill Carleton and All,
I am so pro-metric that, at first, I misunderstood the point of the
image at http://icanhascheezburger.files.wordpress.com/2008/11/funny-pictures-cat-curses-the-metric-system.jpg
I thought that it referred to someone ordering enough metric system
units to (say) build a major building and they got these as all that
would be needed complete with all the necessary conversion factors:
1000 millimetres = 1 metre
1000 metres = 1 kilometre
1000 millilitres = 1 litre
1000 litres = 1 cubic metre
1000 grams = 1 kilogram
1000 kilograms = 1 tonne
1000 watts = 1 kilowatt
1000 joules = 1 kilojoule
1 metre x 1 metre = 1 square metre
1 metre x 1 metre x 1 metre = 1 cubic metre
When they realised that so few metric units would replace all of the
old pre-metric measures they were deeply disappointed and said,
'Curse the metric system! It sounded so big when I ordered it!'
Here is a list of some of the old pre-metric measuring words still
currently in use in the USA:
acre (commercial) (36 000 ft2), acre (US survey) (43 560 ft2), acre
(US international foot) (43 560 ft2), acre foot (43 560 ft3),
acre foot per day, acre foot per year, acre inch (3630 ft3), agate
(1/14 inch), arc second, atmosphere, atmosphere (standard),
bag (1/6 US dry bbl), bag (3 UK bushells), barleycorn, barrel (oil),
barrel (petroleum), barrel (US cranberry), barrel (US dry),
barrel (US federal proof spirits), barrel (US federal), barrel (US
liquid), bbl, bbl (US fed), board foot, bottle (spirits), bottle
(wine), British thermal unit, British thermal unit (32 °F), British
thermal unit (68 °F), British thermal unit (98 °F), British thermal
unit (International steam table), British thermal unit
(International), British thermal unit (IT), British thermal unit
(mean), British
thermal unit (thermochemical), BThU, BTU, Btu (International table),
Btu (mean), Btu (th), Btu/hour, bushel, bushel (barley)
(USDA), bushel (oats) (USDA), bushel (rye) (USDA), bushel (shelled
corn) (USDA), bushel (soybeans), bushel (US volume),
bushel (wheat), bushel potatoes (USDA), cable (US), cal (15 °C), cal
(20 °C), cal (4 °C), cal (IT), cal (mean), cal (th), caliber
(US), calibre (UK), calorie, Calorie, calorie (16 °C), calorie (20
°C), calorie (4 °C), calorie (International Table), calorie (mean),
calorie (thermochemical), calorie per hour, candle, candlepower,
candlepower (mean horizontal), candlepower (mean
spherical), carat, centigrade, centigrade heat units, centipoise,
century, chain, chain (US statute), chain (US survey), charge
unit, children's shoe sizes (US), circular mil per foot, cord, cord
foot, cubic foot, cubic foot per hour, cubic foot per minute,
cubic foot per second, cubic inch, cubic inch per minute, cubic inch
per second, cubic mile, cubic yard, cubit, cup (UK), cup
(US), curie, cusec, Dalton, dalton, day (civil), day (sidereal), day
(solar), decade, degree (arc degree), degrees
Ammoniameter, degrees API, degrees Bark, degrees Baumé (heavy),
degrees Baumé (light), degrees Beck, degrees Brix,
degrees Fahrenheit, degrees oleometer, degrees Rankine, degrees
Soxhlet, degrees Twaddel, denier, Dobson unit, dram
(apothecaries), dram (avoirdupois), drex, drill numbers, drop, drum
(44 UK gallons), drum (55 US gallons), dyne, Einstein unit,
electron rest mass, elite (US printers), ell (UK), em, en, erg,
exposure value, Fahrenheit, fathom, feet, feet (air), feet (board),
feet (water), flask (mercury), flat (strawberries), foot
(International), foot (metric), foot (statute), foot (survey), foot
(water 39.2
°F), foot candle, foot per hour, foot per minute, foot per second,
foot pound, foot poundal, foot pounds-force, foot ton, footcandle
(apparent), foot-lambert, furlong, gal, gallon, gallon (US liquid),
gallon (US) per day, gallon (US) per day per square
foot, gallon (US) per hour, gallon (US) per minute, gallon (US) per
second, gauge (screw), gauge (USS standard plate), gauge
(vinyl), gauge (Washburn & Moen), g-pounds, grain, grains per gallon,
gross, hand, hide, horsepower, horsepower
(mechanical), horsepower hour, horsepower year, hour (civil), hour
(sidereal), hour (solar), hour of right ascension,
hundredweight, hundredweight (long), hundredweight (net),
hundredweight (short), inch, inch (circular), inch (Enfield), inch
(International), inch (mercury), inch (metric), inch (UK Imperial),
inch (US statute), inch (US survey), inch (water), inch per
minute, inch per second, inch-pound, jigger (US), keg (US large beer),
keg (US small beer), kilocalories, kilocalories per hour,
kilopound-force, kilowatt hours, kip, kip foot, kip per square inch,
lambert, langley, lb, lbf, league, light minute, light second,
light year, link, link (US statute), link (US survey), lumerg, Mach
number, magnitude (apparent stellar), magnum, megaton,
men's shoe sizes (US), mho, microinch, micron, mig, mil, mil
(angular), mil (milliinch), mil circular, mile, mile (International),
mile (US statute), mile (US survey), mile per hour, mile per hour per
second, mile per minute, mile per second, miles per
gallon, miles per hour, millennium, millibar, millimetres of mercury,
millimetres of water, miner's inch (AZ), miner's inch (CO),
miner's inch (ID), minim (US), minute (sidereal), minute (solar),
minute of arc (arc minute), minute of right ascension, month
(mean calendar), month (sidereal), month (synodic or lunar), nail
penny, nautical mile (radar), nit, noy, oersted, ounce, ounce
(avoirdupois), ounce (troy), ounce fluid, ounce fluid (US), ounce-
force, ounce-force inch, ounce-force per square inch, ounces
per inch, pace (geometrical), pace (military), parsec, parts per
billion, parts per million, parts per trillion, peck (US dry),
pennyweight (troy), perch, phon, phot, pica, pica (US computers), pica
(US printers), pint, pint (US dry), pint (US liquid), point
(compass), point (jewellers), point (US computers), point (US
printers), pole, pound, pound (avoirdupois), pound (basis weight
of bond paper), pound (basis weight of book paper), pound (basis
weight of cover paper), pound (basis weight of newsprint),
poundal, poundals per square foot, pound-force, pound-force foot,
pound-force inch, pound-force per square foot, pound-force
per square inch, pounds per foot, pounds-force, ppb, ppm, ppt, quad,
quart, quart (US dry), quart (US liquid), Q-unit, rad,
range, Rankine, Reaumur, rem, revolution, revolution per minute,
revolution per second, reyn, rod, rod (US statute), rod (US
survey), roentgen, rood, sack (1/6 US dry bbl), screw number, second
(redwood), second (saybolt), second (sidereal), second
of arc, second of right ascension, shot, shotgun gauge, slug, slug (g-
pound), solar luminosities, sone, speed of light, square
(flooring), square (roofing), square (timber), square degree, square
foot, square inch, square mil, square mile (International),
square mile (statute), square mile (survey), square yard, standard
cubic foot (natural gas), stone, tablespoon (International),
tablespoon (UK), tablespoon (US), teaspoon (International), teaspoon
(UK), teaspoon (US), tex, therm, thou, thou (thousand
acre feet), thou (thousand board feet), ton, ton (assay), ton
(freight), ton (long), ton (metric), ton (net), ton (nuclear devices),
ton (register), ton (short), ton (US commercial refrigeration), ton
(US standard refrigeration), ton mile (ton-force mile), ton of
coal equivalent, ton of oil equivalent, ton-force, ton-force foot,
tons per acre, tons per mile, township, watt hour, week
(calendar), week (work), wire gauge (Birmingham), wire gauge (AWG),
wire gauge (Brown & Sharpe), wire gauge (SWG),
women's shoe sizes (US), yard, yard (International), yard (metric),
yard (US statute), yard (US survey), yards per hour, year
(anomalistic), year (astronomical), year (common calendar 365 d), year
(leap calendar 366 d), year (lunar), etc.
Note: this not a complete list — there are many others. You have to
admit that the USA list does make the metric list look rather puny.
Here is the complete list of metric units needed for any building
anywhere in the world: cubic metre, gram, joule, kilogram, kilojoule,
kilometre, kilowatt, litre, metre, millilitre, millimetre, square
metre, tonne, and watt.
Cheers,
Pat Naughtin
PO Box 305 Belmont 3216,
Geelong, Australia
Phone: 61 3 5241 2008
Metric system consultant, writer, and speaker, Pat Naughtin, has
helped thousands of people and hundreds of companies upgrade to the
modern metric system smoothly, quickly, and so economically that they
now save thousands each year when buying, processing, or selling for
their businesses. Pat provides services and resources for many
different trades, crafts, and professions for commercial, industrial
and government metrication leaders in Asia, Europe, and in the USA.
Pat's clients include the Australian Government, Google, NASA, NIST,
and the metric associations of Canada, the UK, and the USA. See http://www.metricationmatters.com
for more metrication information, contact Pat at [email protected]
or to get the free 'Metrication matters' newsletter go to: http://www.metricationmatters.com/newsletter
to subscribe.
