Hi, everyone, There is an article in the Wall Street Journal dated 2021-08-06, discussing the state of America’s metrication.
It’s here: https://nam10.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.wsj.com%2Farticles%2Fwill-the-u-s-ever-go-metric-it-already-has-sort-of-11628242201&data=04%7C01%7Cusma%40lists.colostate.edu%7Cb6d062eb91f84fb1676808d9593a37f7%7Cafb58802ff7a4bb1ab21367ff2ecfc8b%7C0%7C0%7C637638929313943873%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000&sdata=xVlr7khM2weQmot4CkbnRm1%2FPOuhfoRbX0xcB5x9mWA%3D&reserved=0 <https://nam10.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.wsj.com%2Farticles%2Fwill-the-u-s-ever-go-metric-it-already-has-sort-of-11628242201&data=04%7C01%7Cusma%40lists.colostate.edu%7Cb6d062eb91f84fb1676808d9593a37f7%7Cafb58802ff7a4bb1ab21367ff2ecfc8b%7C0%7C0%7C637638929313943873%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000&sdata=xVlr7khM2weQmot4CkbnRm1%2FPOuhfoRbX0xcB5x9mWA%3D&reserved=0> Unfortunately you need a subscription to read beyond the opening paragraphs. I don’t know if they just mean registration or a financial subscription. Either way I’m out. Up to the present the WSJ has been very much anti-metric, so if we have any WSJ subscribers out there I would be interested to know what conclusion the article reaches. One of my pet peeves is evident, the use of both US and metric measurement systems is described as being “bilingual”. This is one of the few cases where being “bilingual” is more of a handicap than an asset. The article opens with: Will the U.S. Ever Go Metric? It Already Has, Sort Of By Jo Craven McGinty August 6, 2021 The country has been creeping toward the metric system for decades, and is fully bilingual when it comes to discussing weights and measures The U.S. never fully mandated the use of the meter, liter and gram, but for decades, the country has inched toward the metric system anyway. Medicines are dosed in milligrams. Beverages are bottled in liters. Athletes run 5K races. And while gasoline is sold by the gallon, an automobile’s engine is measured in liters. These changes have augmented the U.S. customary system of measurements <https://nam10.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fecampusontario.pressbooks.pub%2Fbasickitchenandfoodservicemanagement%2Fchapter%2Fimperial-and-u-s-systems-of-measurement%2F&data=04%7C01%7Cusma%40lists.colostate.edu%7Cb6d062eb91f84fb1676808d9593a37f7%7Cafb58802ff7a4bb1ab21367ff2ecfc8b%7C0%7C0%7C637638929313943873%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000&sdata=lM4eERKtW7F74pav%2BpZARrH8lwXaPTOGk3t3mPvcvlE%3D&reserved=0>, but they haven’t replaced it. Weight is still measured in pounds, height in feet, distance in miles, property in acres and recipe ingredients in spoons and cups. “We’re much more bilingual than we want to admit,” said Stephen Mihm, a history professor at the University of Georgia who has researched U.S. weights and measures. “We don’t think anything of going into a grocery store and buying half a pound of turkey and two liters of soda and putting them in the same grocery cart and walking out. That’s just what we do.” This topic has been posted to Reddit’s metric forum and comments will be here: https://nam10.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.reddit.com%2Fr%2FMetric%2Fcomments%2Fozikn2%2Fan_article_in_the_wall_street_journal_discusses%2F&data=04%7C01%7Cusma%40lists.colostate.edu%7Cb6d062eb91f84fb1676808d9593a37f7%7Cafb58802ff7a4bb1ab21367ff2ecfc8b%7C0%7C0%7C637638929313943873%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000&sdata=v4%2FdayKbgqcpmL%2B6z1j0FXdzyaBvgUxqNqAcR53H8RU%3D&reserved=0 <https://nam10.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.reddit.com%2Fr%2FMetric%2Fcomments%2Fozikn2%2Fan_article_in_the_wall_street_journal_discusses%2F&data=04%7C01%7Cusma%40lists.colostate.edu%7Cb6d062eb91f84fb1676808d9593a37f7%7Cafb58802ff7a4bb1ab21367ff2ecfc8b%7C0%7C0%7C637638929313943873%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000&sdata=v4%2FdayKbgqcpmL%2B6z1j0FXdzyaBvgUxqNqAcR53H8RU%3D&reserved=0> Best wishes, Peter Goodyear, Melbourne, Australia e-mail: [email protected]
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