On 2009/01/26, at 4:09 AM, Jeremiah MacGregor wrote:
Stephen,
I know that there are different spellings of meter that depend on
language, such as metro in Spanish. But which is the right spelling
for English. I always thought it was meter. Why do you use metre?
It looks like it should be pronounced as met-ra or met-tray.
I thought the meter has been the same since its inception and has
never changed. When has it changed and then by how much? I know
our English units have changed many times in history and that many
places had their own forms. But I thought the metric system was
free of this problem.
Now, isn't the word meter (or metre) derived from the Greek word
metron, meaning a measure? So, why do you say this word is French?
I wasn't aware that Napoleon had anything to do with the names of
the units. I thought some scientists came up with the names.
I am neither pro or anti metric either. I use what I'm confronted
with. I don't need to convert metric to English if it is used, nor
do I need to convert English to metric if it is used. I'm sure it
would be better if only one is used, but for now we have both.
I'm afraid I'm not up on American politics as much as I should be,
so I know even less about the EU or Europe. I'm sure the EU serves
some valuable function or it would not have lasted so long and
nations would be leaving instead of joining.
Jerry
Dear Jerry,
As you are new on this list, you might not have seen this article:
http://www.metricationmatters.com/docs/Spelling_metre_or_meter.pdf
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
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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]
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