One of the reasons that metrication is taking so long in both the UK and the US is that everything is labelled in both units. Most people, on seeing both units, discard the metric unit without even looking at it. In the case cited below, the school coaches have got to mentally "process" the metric unit in order to get to the equivalent customary unit. It will take a little time, but soon they will get used to the metric unit.
A number of years ago, I [unwittingly] tested this theory out when I printed out the pseudo-German that appears at https://nam10.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https:%2F%2Fwww.ling.upenn.edu%2F~beatrice%2Fhumor%2Fblinkenlights.html&data=04%7C01%7Cusma%40lists.colostate.edu%7Cebdcab82b2174cd3451608d91ebedf1f%7Cafb58802ff7a4bb1ab21367ff2ecfc8b%7C0%7C0%7C637574627405128077%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C1000&sdata=iUhRYfNgwkq4ko8NNNFh1qk3tswLLq%2F3Z5N2aepyKCo%3D&reserved=0 and showed it around the office (in the UK). All but two of my colleagues looked at it blankly, but the other two, one of whom had married and divorced a German woman found it very funny. It would appear that most of my colleagues mentally blocked the German out. I had another experience when I was on a tour in Iceland. Half the party were British and half were German. On evening after a rather hectic day, the courier told the party "Supper is at half past seven this evening - Das Abendessen ist heute um halb Sieben". If you compare these two phrases word for word, the translation is correct, but the German phrase "halb Sieben" means "half [before] seven", not "half [after] seven". I was the only member of the party that spotted the error - everybody else just blanked out the language that did not apply to them. Fortunately I queried the statement and she corrected herself. Later on, when I was able to speak to her on her own, I suggested that use the 24 -hour clock. Her home language was Icelandic, she was a student at a Danish University and she spoke to everybody on the tour in near-perfect English or German as appropriate. It appeared that there is a similar difference between Icelandic and Danish. Martin -----Original Message----- From: USMA <[email protected]> On Behalf Of Jim McClellan Sent: 24 May 2021 14:21 To: USMA List Server <[email protected]> Subject: [USMA 1724] Everything that's wrong with American education in one article On one hand, it's great to see schools using the meter (which should've long since been implemented) but they're encouraging "conversion" to the ye olde kings yard. How can we call them out on that approach? https://nam10.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.pjstar.com%2Fstory%2Fsports%2F2021%2F05%2F10%2Fihsa-track-and-field-events-use-metric-system-during-2021-season%2F4967033001%2F&data=04%7C01%7Cusma%40lists.colostate.edu%7Cebdcab82b2174cd3451608d91ebedf1f%7Cafb58802ff7a4bb1ab21367ff2ecfc8b%7C0%7C0%7C637574627405128077%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C1000&sdata=jmt20xz1J%2BpkOJmL53%2F%2FGSw6tJA4pBEh4u8qIitfSXI%3D&reserved=0 _______________________________________________ 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
