The mil (0.001 in) is also called a "thou" in the U.S. Perhaps we picked
that up in the WWII years from the Brits or perhaps it's always been
that way here. I don't know.
One other application for "mil" is in tax accounting. Our early coinage
laws in the U.S. used the mil. Tax rates are given in mils, meaning
millidollars per dollar or perhaps going back to the "per mille" (‰).
The latter is related to the percent (%) and it even has its own sign,
something like 0/00 but as one character. The Unicode for that is U+2030:
http://www.fileformat.info/info/unicode/char/2030/index.htm
So, if your real estate tax rate is 17.6 ‰ and the evaluation of your
property is $100 000 then your tax comes to $1760.
This "per mille" is sometimes used in salinities, etc. as a synonym for
"parts per thousand" (ppt).
I recall seeing pre-WWII typewriters that had the per mille symbol,
usually on the key just to the right of the percent symbol.
Jim
Stephen Humphreys wrote:
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
*From:* [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] *On
Behalf Of *Robert H. Bushnell
*Sent:* Monday, June 21, 2010 18:10
*To:* U.S. Metric Association
*Cc:* USMA
*Subject:* [USMA:47895] Re: The metric system or what?
I will stay with "inch-pound". It is not expected to be "complete" but
it is clear enough to get the subject started.
If somebody asks "is Btu included?" I say yes and I know the whole of
measurement units is being talked about. Good enough.
Robert Bushnell
----------------------------------------
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