"Most people who use their own experience as examples to provide interesting information or insights do so knowing that it can be impossible to back it up. In this case it happened a few years back so, someone I am no longer in contact with who, like me, has left the company we met at, would need to phone you up (having got your number) and verify that this indeed happened to satisfy whether I am talking the truth or not on an argument that poses no benefit to me whatsoever in simply making the story up. I hope that makes sense. "
Or mayve....just on occasion, you could include something that can actually be varified in some way. Just a thought. "P.S. I assume you didn't like the outcome of the General Election, apart from maybe in your constituency? I don't care who gets in, quite frankly. This country has almost been bankrupted by the handouts given to the banks after their greed and stupidity nearly sunk us and now they intend to implement cuts in the country's budget to make up for the money given to the banks whose lunacy created the whole mess in the first place. In other words, the banks are sitting pretty while we are compelled to pay for their mess. The words "brass" and "neck" spring to mind! ----- Original Message ----- From: Stephen Humphreys To: U.S. Metric Association Sent: Saturday, May 08, 2010 12:09 AM Subject: [USMA:47329] RE: Meter in UK conversation Stephen, Most people who use their own experience as examples to provide interesting information or insights do so knowing that it can be impossible to back it up. In this case it happened a few years back so, someone I am no longer in contact with who, like me, has left the company we met at, would need to phone you up (having got your number) and verify that this indeed happened to satisfy whether I am talking the truth or not on an argument that poses no benefit to me whatsoever in simply making the story up. I hope that makes sense. But for your information - his first name was Jacques and we both worked for Xerox in Marlow - the European HQ. Many employees there were from Europe. We had Germans, Dutch, French a couple of Italians in our group. Most lived over here for the duration of the project (a role out of a financial system across Europe) and most used hired cars (paid for) to get out and about. Many of these people liked to impress us with their grip of the British way of life in the same way as you might do if you were stationed somewhere in Europe (ie picking up their habits, etc). It's not that difficult to imagine those people falling in, in the same way as you would do the same in reverse over in Europe. It was my experiences at Xerox which led me to the info about how - contrary to the silly notion that imperial lengths etc made us the 'laughing stock' etc - these individuals liked to pick up on our weights and measures where we used different ones to theres. It was all part of their learning experience on top of the project itself. The project went on for about 4 years so you can see how and why they got involved to that level. I hope that makes things clearer but feel free to take a piece of what I have typed, embolden it whilst surrounding it with quotation marks, and simply negate it completely ;-) P.S. I assume you didn't like the outcome of the General Election, apart from maybe in your constituency? ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ From: [email protected] To: [email protected] Subject: [USMA:47323] RE: Meter in UK conversation Date: Fri, 7 May 2010 19:07:23 +0100 "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 free e-mail account with Hotmail. Sign-up now.
