Over here in France I often see the incorrect symbol used in the market, and 
the odd sign outside a business. A very high percentage of the population don’t 
know that in SI it’s a symbol not an abbreviation. 

I wrote to the BBC style guide recently with suggestions and references on 
their insistence that people use such and such abbreviation for metric. I 
pointed out the relevant documents that state it’s a symbol. One annoying thing 
with the BBC is that they insist on the inclusion of old english measure in all 
their broadcasts. I’ve not heard back from them.

MIke


> On 21 Oct 2016, at 07:12, Paul Trusten <[email protected]> wrote:
> 
> I am not bragging, just telling a truth: the one industry that excels at the 
> correct use of SI symbols on its labeling and packaging is the pharmaceutical 
> industry. 
> 
> However, many healthcare professionals do not follow suit. As Jim mentioned, 
> they might use "gm" for "g," or "mgm" and "mgs" for "mg." Then there is the 
> problem with the recognition of the Greek letter "mu" for the SI prefix 
> "micro." Due to its possible confusion with "m" when handwritten, the Joint 
> Commission years ago insisted that the expression "mcg" be used instead, so 
> packaging ends up bearing either notation. 
> 
> On Oct 20, 2016, at 22:03, James <[email protected] 
> <mailto:[email protected]>> wrote:
> 
>> The conversion exercises you mention (e.g., centiliters in a dekaliter) are 
>> all within one system. Years ago we discussed the issue on the USMA mail 
>> list and the consensus I recall was that this should be called scaling, not 
>> conversion. The latter is what we called starting in one system and ending 
>> in another.
>> 
>> It's unfortunate that the article's author used gm to stand for gram, rather 
>> than g.
>> 
>> Jim Frysinger
>> 
>> On 2016-10-20 20:27, [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> wrote:
>>> http://www.motherearthnews.com/real-food/curing/how-to-make-your-own-pancetta-zbcz1610
>>>  
>>> <http://www.motherearthnews.com/real-food/curing/how-to-make-your-own-pancetta-zbcz1610>
>>> 
>>> 
>>> "These additions are based on a percentage of the starting weight of the
>>> meat therefore, it is important to use measurements of weight such as
>>> grams, ounces and pounds. Do not use units of volume such as cups,
>>> tablespoons and teaspoons.  Using the metric system makes all of the
>>> calculations easier, and most scales that you are using for your home
>>> charcuterie efforts should have both Imperial and Metric units. Take the
>>> leap now and convert to metric it will make things easier in the long run."
>>> 
>>> The point of the article is so simple that it's puzzling why so many
>>> make so big a deal about using the metric system in the remaining 40% of
>>> daily activities.
>>> 
>>> I remember that when the U.S. government botched its chance in the
>>> 1970s, the educational methodology was all wrong (leave it to the
>>> government to botch it!).  Large amounts of class time were spent in
>>> conversion exercises:  how many centiliters are there in a dekaliter?
>>> How many decigrams are there in a centigram?  Useless.
>>> 
>>> The lesson that we in USMA need to get out is that the most effective,
>>> and easiest, way of learning metric, as it is of learning a foreign
>>> language, is total immersion.  Think metric.  For example, most
>>> thermometers are now digital.  Simply set them to metric units and think
>>> only in those units. Look at the readings several times a day.  Get your
>>> weather information off the internet -- Weather Underground is fully
>>> metric, for example -- rather than the television.  Soon you will find
>>> that you are having trouble dealing with Fahrenheit.
>>> 
>>> --Martin Morrison, "Metric Today" Columnist
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> USMA mailing list
>>> [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>
>>> https://lists.colostate.edu/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/usma 
>>> <https://lists.colostate.edu/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/usma>
>> 
>> 
>> -- 
>> James R. Frysinger
>> 632 Stoney Point Mountain Road
>> Doyle TN 38559-3030
>> 
>> (C) 931.212.0267
>> (H) 931.657.3107
>> (F) 931.657.3108
>> _______________________________________________
>> USMA mailing list
>> [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>
>> https://lists.colostate.edu/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/usma 
>> <https://lists.colostate.edu/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/usma>
>> 
>> 
> _______________________________________________
> USMA mailing list
> [email protected]
> https://lists.colostate.edu/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/usma

_______________________________________________
USMA mailing list
[email protected]
https://lists.colostate.edu/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/usma

Reply via email to