Actually, I am quite aware of them and their situation. But politically, geographically, and economically they have virtually no influence, so I chose to ignore their existence in this context.
----- Original Message ----- From: "Stephen Humphreys" <[email protected]> To: "U.S. Metric Association" <[email protected]> Sent: Friday, May 7, 2010 4:13:19 PM GMT -08:00 US/Canada Pacific Subject: [USMA:47330] RE: Meter in UK conversation Don't forget the English speaking Caribbean! :-) Some - of course - are similar to the UK - ie 'officially' metric but they forgot to tell the people ;-) Date: Fri, 7 May 2010 19:30:23 +0000 From: [email protected] To: [email protected] Subject: [USMA:47325] RE: Meter in UK conversation One of the things that a correspondent of mine with the UKMA noted to me is that people from non-English speaking countries seem to continue to believe that Imperial is still the standard in English-speaking countries. Consequently, those folks often go out of their way to "convert" the metric values they have in their head to Imperial whenever they are talking to someone who speaks English as their native language. This clearly is valid only for the USA (and to a much lesser extent Canada, Ireland, and the UK), and is certainly not true for other English-speaking countries. I suspect that the economic and political weight that the USA still enjoys and its continued attachment to US Customary (often mistake for Imperial, presumably) is what is behind that phenomenon as well as the continued metric muddle perpetuated by UK governments that have failed to manifestly complete the metrication process (most notably by not converting road signs to metric, making it the only country in the world to have officially converted to metric without having converted road signs as well). -- Ezra ----- Original Message ----- From: "Stephen Davis" <[email protected]> To: "U.S. Metric Association" <[email protected]> Sent: Friday, May 7, 2010 11:07:23 AM GMT -08:00 US/Canada Pacific Subject: [USMA:47323] RE: Meter in UK conversation "Conversely I remember a French chap say 'yards' when I worked for a European HQ for a very large company in Britain." Of course you do! Most French people probably aren't aware of what a yard is, let alone mention one in conversation. However, because you are well aware nobody can prove this ddn't happen, we're going to have to take your word for it, aren't we? Strange how most of the things you make claim to cannot be conclusively proved, isn't it? ----- Original Message ----- From: Stephen Humphreys To: U.S. Metric Association Sent: Thursday, May 06, 2010 10:20 PM Subject: [USMA:47319] RE: Meter in UK conversation It does happen. Some weeks back a colleague of mine said 'metres' in stead of 'yards' Someone in the group said "how continental!" :-) I heard an American say 'metres' too some years back in reference to diving. Conversely I remember a French chap say 'yards' when I worked for a European HQ for a very large company in Britain. I would suggest he picked it up from general conversation. So it even happens the other way around. From: [email protected] To: [email protected] Subject: [USMA:47317] Meter in UK conversation Date: Thu, 6 May 2010 16:53:52 +0000 http://www.aircrashobserver.com/e107/news.php?item.167.2 ‘There are one or two bits of white stuff on the ground. I don't know if they were blown off but one is a couple of metres away (from the plane) and another is quite a few metres away.’ People do apparently use metres in general conversation in the UK. Mike Payne Get a free e-mail account with Hotmail. Sign-up now. Get a new e-mail account with Hotmail – Free. Sign-up now.
