LL-L "Measure words" 2002.12.05 (15) [D/E]

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 L O W L A N D S - L * 05.DEC.2002 (15) * ISSN 189-5582 * LCSN 96-4226
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From: Gustaaf Van Moorsel gvanmoor at cv3.cv.nrao.edu
Subject: LL-L "Measure words" 2002.12.05 (12) [E]

Stan wrote:

> Gee, this is really getting amusing.  Gustaaf, i think
> you can see nobody took any offense.

> Gustaaf wrote:
>
>>well, I wrote that in Dutch on purpose so as not to
>>insult any Americans,
>>but you caught me anyway. :-)

Ik dacht dat Gabriele dat schreef; ik was het in ieder geval
niet.  Ik heb allang geleerd me aan de niet metrische maten
aan te passen.  En terug in Europa betrap ik me erop dat ik
de afstanden in km in mijlen omreken al is het alleen maar
om het met bekende afstanden in de USA te vergelijken.  Zoals
gezegd, er blijven problemen voor mij als er twee maten wor-
den gecombineerd (pound-foot for torque) of als er meer dan
normale precisie nodig is (bij 38.1 graden C kan ik me de
koorts precies voorstellen, maar bij 100.8F kan ik dat nog
steeds niet.)

Groeten uit Socorro (49F)

Gustaaf (5'11", 208lb)

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From: Gustaaf Van Moorsel gvanmoor at cv3.cv.nrao.edu
Subject: LL-L "Measure words" 2002.12.05 (12) [E]

Ed writes (about yards/mile):

> I rest my case:  it's 1760.

This is not difficult to remember if you know that athletic
tracks in the US tend to be 440 yards in length.  There is
even a world record for this distance, which by the way is
very close to 400m.  Well, these tracks are also a quarter
mile in length, so yards per mile is 4 x 440 = 1760.

An area in which yards and feet are the official norm all
over the world is soccer.  Many in the Netherlands know
that at free kicks the wall needs to be at a 9m 15cm dist-
ance from the ball, and in Germany they use "Elfmeter",
where few will know that the official distances are 10 and
12 yards, respectively.  The size of the goal is 8 yards
wide and 8 feet high all over the world.

Gustaaf (USSF Referee)

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