" "It's been some time since Ireland switched so it is interesting to hear the use of imperial for walking (and thus road) distances. I wonder if it's simply down to 'convenient talking' - ie that 'yard' is single syllable to 'metre's' two."
Probably. But that's maybe slightly misleading. Around 99.9% of people from the UK don't ask for a 150ml can of Coke - they ask for a can of Coke. They won't ask for 250g of cornflakes, they'll ask for a box of cornflakes. In Ireland, they used imperial for centuries before adopting metric measurements, as they did on the UK. Although metric is used more extensively in Ireland, it is likely that imperial words such as yard and mile will take years to disappear from the use of language. If something is easier to say, (miles rather than kilometres) then humans, being the lazy beast that we are, will maybe opt for the thing that's slightly easier to say. I don't think it's neccessarily because people prefer imperial when using imperial style words; I think it's just that people feel more comfortable in certain situations using them. If something has been used for centuries, it is not going to to disappear from the language overnight. I don't think it means, in the majority of cases, that Irish people preder imperial, its just that they probably feel more comfortable using those words. ----- Original Message ----- From: Stephen Humphreys To: U.S. Metric Association Sent: Sunday, March 14, 2010 11:26 PM Subject: [USMA:46932] Benchmark Ireland I know some here are interested in how metrication has worked, or not, in other countries. I went to Ireland this weekend (to Dublin actually) - anyone who knows my nationality might understand why!! As per all my recent trips there the signs were, of course, in metric. This time we rented a car for the weekend because (get this) it was cheaper to rent a car and drive it to Dublin from the airport and leave it for the weekend then drive it back than the cost of a taxi to do the same! The only signs that weren't in metric were those for height and width. These had both imperial and metric. I wonder if the reason is to fend off any compensation claims for damaged vehicles. These days of 'compensation culture' as Prince Charles has called it. Some here are more interested in the usage of measures 'in real life' rather than via mandate (reality versus rules). We had to ask three separate police officers (Garda) directions somewhere and each one used hundreds of yards when talking walking distance. Also taxi drivers spoke in miles when we asked about various things. It's been some time since Ireland switched so it is interesting to hear the use of imperial for walking (and thus road) distances. I wonder if it's simply down to 'convenient talking' - ie that 'yard' is single syllable to 'metre's' two. All fairly interesting regarding W&M (imho) SteveH ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Not got a Hotmail account? Sign-up now - Free
