I thought it was much simpler than that. The rug was specified in centimeters and the cat thought it was in inches. Thus, the rug was only about 40% as long as the cat was expecting -- or about 16% by area. As Nibbles said to Jerry at the end of their award-winning Two Mouseketeers animated movie, "Pauvre, pauvre pussycat." (It must, of course, be said with a French accent and with the emphasis on the last syllable.) Of course, the pussycat in the movie was the famous Tom, who had just been guillotined for failing to guard the King's feast. Can you tell that part of my misspent youth was spent in London's cartoon cinemas (six animated shorts and two newsreels, ad nauseam)? Bill _____
Bill Potts W <http://wfpconsulting.com/> FP Consulting Roseville, CA <http://metric1.org/> http://metric1.org [SI Navigator] _____ From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Pat Naughtin Sent: Friday, December 26, 2008 17:05 To: U.S. Metric Association Cc: USMA Metric Association; UKMA Metric Association Subject: [USMA:42209] RE: Cat commenting on metric 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-cur ses-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 <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.
