Ah, yes. Two peoples/"common" language syndrome. I had never heard that usage
until I began frequenting measurement discussion boards. I would have taken it
as a religious (or archaic English) reference ("Thou art with me.") :)
Given its use as an approved unit in net content labeling, I'm not sure it
really qualifies as unfamiliar or confusing over here.
________________________________
From: Stephen Humphreys <[email protected]>
To: U.S. Metric Association <[email protected]>
Sent: Tue, June 22, 2010 1:45:33 PM
Subject: [USMA:47912] Re: mil
At least we have no confusion about that over here (UK). What you call a mil
we call a thou (due to it being a thousandth of an inch, not a millionth!).
That leaves us to use mil when referring to millimetres and millilitres. Easy.
________________________________
Date: Tue, 22 Jun 2010 10:04:16 -0700
From: [email protected]
Subject: [USMA:47911] Re: mil
To: [email protected]
The mil is also used in the net contents description of plastic trash bags to
describe their thickness, and other plastic film products such as dropcloths.
(The metric part of the dual description uses micrometers)
________________________________
From: Patrick Moore <[email protected]>
To: U.S. Metric Association <[email protected]>
Sent: Tue, June 22, 2010 8:21:31 AM
Subject: [USMA:47908] mil
The mil (= 0.001 inch) was widely used in metal working and finishing in the
USA in the 20th century and is still found in working specifications. Most
micrometers (the gages) can measure mils. My impression is that the micrometer
(the unit) has been more widely used than the mil since the 1980s, when Japan
overtook the USA in production of tool steel.
________________________________
From: Carleton MacDonald <[email protected]>
Reply-To: <[email protected]>
Date: Mon, 21 Jun 2010 23:53:59 -0400
To: "U.S. Metric Association" <[email protected]>
Subject: [USMA:47904] Re: The metric system or what?
I had to write an internal memo for our employees. We are changing to a new
style of ticket that is of a different color and thinner. I was told that the
old ticket was “7 mils” and the new ticket is “5 mils”. A “mil” is a unit used
in the US printing industry, and it means 0.001 inch. In the memo, thanks to
Pat, I described the “mil” as an “old pre-metric unit” and told people “do not
confuse it with the worldwide standard SI/metric unit ‘millimeter’.”
There will be one employee in the other building whose politics are somewhat to
the right of Glenn Beck who will send me a nastygram about that. (We are good
friends, otherwise.)
The battle continues.
Carleton
