Just returned from a trip to Malta and Sicily and have some observations on
metric usage in those places.
(Malta is an independent nation consisting of 2 or 3 main islands and a few
others. Sicily is an island which is part of Italy, although Sicilians consider
themselves a breed apart.)
Most of my observations are from street and highway signs. I'm not much of a
shopper and did not do much in stores and shops. Most things were in metric and
quite correct. None of my observations are profound but I found them
interesting anyhow.
IN MALTA
Incorrect symbol "Km/h" used for speed limits but correct "km" used for
distances on official signs.
Distances in metres sometimes expressed using incorrect "M" as the symbol and
other times using the correct "m" on official signs, sometimes on two signs in
he same location.
Sign used 5'6" for the width of a narrow street on an official sign (with
adjacent signs all in metric).
IN SICILY
Incorrect "Km" occasionally seen but mostly the correct "km" for long distances.
Correct "cm" consistently seen for short lengths.
Triply incorrect "Kg." on a sign stating "Kg. 500" for the maximum load in an
elevator. The capital "K" is wrong, the period is wrong and the placing of the
unit before the number is wrong (maybe).
I think I understand why they use the symbol before the number; Italian, I
learned, is one of the languages that puts the adjective after the noun in
sentences. A mass of 500 kg can be likened to an adjective (500) and a noun
(kilogram), resulting in "kg 500". French uses the order noun-adjective, too,
but I don't recall having seen French use of things like "kg 500" instead of
"500 kg".
Also, I don't know whether SI specifies the order or not, so maybe it's not
wrong.
Volume of contents of wine barrels labelled in "HL" for hectolitres. It should
be "hl" or "hL". Again, the order of number and unit were reversed from what I
am accustomed to. One barrel was labelled "HL 65" which I asked and had
clarified represented 65 hectolitres. (That would be 6.5 kL which would also be
6.5 cubic metres, but no sign of kL or m^2 were to be seen on any of the
barrels.)
IN THE AIR
An interesting set of readings of the speed of the plane flying home showed a
CORRECT symbol (km/h) when displayed in ENGLISH but and INCORRECT symbol
(Km/ora) when displayed in ITALIAN. ("Ora" is the Italian word for "hour".)
Bill Hooper
1810 mm tall
Fernandina Beach, Florida, USA
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SImplification Begins With SI.
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