Dear Harry,
There have always been forces to retrofit decimal numbers with halves,
quarters, and eighths. Think of the retrofitting of the decimal
currency in the USA with half-dollars and quarter-dollars. This old
halving method of dividing things cropped up from time to time
throughout history.
My favourite is the dandyprat. This coin was invented to divide
English threepences into halves.
In the early sixteenth century a coin was issued in England that was
one half of three pence, making it equal to a penny ha'penny or an
eighth of a shilling. This coin came to be called a dandiprat although
nobody seems to know where this word came from.
Soon after the appearance of the dandiprat coin it was associated with
being small and insignificant and in particular a small childlike
person.
Consider this quote from a 2002 book, Forward the Mage, by Eric Flint
and Richard Roach:
Who is so wise as to distinguish, with unerring precision, between a
little man, a dwarf, a gnome, a midget, a shrimp, a runt, a pygmy, a
Lilliputian, a chit, a fingerling, a pigwidgeon, a mite, a dandiprat,
a micromorph, an homunculus, a dapperling, a small fry — or someone
with bad posture, weighted down with the cares of the world?
Cheers,
Pat Naughtin
Author of the forthcoming book, Metrication Leaders Guide.
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.
On 2009/07/12, at 7:55 PM, Harry Wyeth wrote:
Another example of this "half a yard" nonsense! (Eighth paragraph,
I think).
http://apnews.myway.com//article/20090712/D99COISO0.html
HARRY WYETH
