LL-L "Measure words" 2002.12.05 (12) [E]

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 L O W L A N D S - L * 05.DEC.2002 (12) * ISSN 189-5582 * LCSN 96-4226
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From: Ed Alexander <edsells at cogeco.ca>
Subject: LL-L "Measure words" 2002.12.05 (07) [D/E]

At 11:42 AM 12/05/02 -0800, Gabriele Kahn wrote:
>I couldn't wait to try that one on my American husband. He got the weights
>wrong (hee hee), but he knew without even thinking how many yards are in a
>mile: 1770 - or so he says (but then, he has a great head for trivia).

I rest my case:  it's 1760.  I guess we'd better not ask him how many
chains, rods, furlongs........

Ed

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From: Stan Levinson <stlev99 at yahoo.com>
Subject: LL-L "Measure words" 2002.12.05 (04) [D/E]


Gustaaf, Ron, et al.
Gee, this is really getting amusing.  Gustaaf, i think
you can see nobody took any offense.  What's even
funnier than our system, is that I seriously doubt
there is anyone who actually masters our system.  Most
people get feet/inches, ounces/pounds, but even when
it comes to liquid measures, only kitchen wizards are
able to interpret teaspoons-tablespoons-cups-pints
etc.  You can see why it's so hard to change: it's not
that people like the system (they don't know it!, it's
"just because", which is the hardest thing to change!
Also, re Australia, two things:
When Australia first went metric in money, I remember
reading an anecdote of a woman who went to the
butcher, was told her purchase came to (say) $3.85,
and she asked "How much is that is REAL money?"
Actually, that may or may not be apocryphal, but I am
fanatic about Australian Rugby League and watch the
games on the Internet, and more than once I've heard
an announcer say (for example), "he's 172cm, about
5'8" in the old language."  The OLD LANGUAGE!!! That
is rich!  So to those announcers, there's no
consciousness of a system changing, it's more like a
"new language"!!!
Lest there be any confusion, by the way, I absolutely
LOVE almost anything Aussie, and in fact those Aussie
rugby announcers, especially Ray Warren, are great.
Stan
Gustaaf wrote:
> well, I wrote that in Dutch on purpose so as not to
> insult any Americans,
> but you caught me anyway. :-)
Ron wrote:
 I happened to
> move to Australia when that country "became metric."
>  What bitching and
> moaning!  You have no idea!  People complained and
> complained.  "How big is
> a meter?" they'd ask me expecting an equivalent in
> feet and inches.

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