28 May
2010
28 May
'10
10:36 a.m.
Chuck Guzis [cclist at sydex.com] wrote:
This from someone who lives in a country where body
weight is still
quoted in stone;
But you'll hear kg for most other weights: it's really only body weight
that is measured in pounds. Get measured in hospital and it will be
recorded
in kg (unless you've just been born, must be something special about
midwives
I guess).
horse stature in hands--and I still hear announcers
Is that Imperial vs Metric or just weird?
on the Beeb referring to distances in miles.
That's the other common one (we certainly cannot afford to change all
the
road signs right now).
I'm sure other examples
abound. So I take any UK-related claims of the metric system being
wonderful with a crannock of salt.
Like it or lump it it's the law. Except in pubs, where you will be
served pints not litres (and certainly never, ever liters :0).
The measurement of a thumb is a case in point;
So a fingernail must be about 1cm?
a yard
is about the distance between the tip of my thumb and my nose,
and so is a metre (unless you have some unusual definition of
"about" kicking around there).
as is
the length of my stride.
ditto
A foot is a unit not enjoyed by the
metrics- -you get your choice between a meter (too big) and
the ridiculously
small centimeter--even a decimeter is too small.
The height of a
ceiling or the spacing between rails on a railroad is conveniently
expressed in whole feet.
It's not in my house. (I've not yet built an engine, but if I decide
to spend my Sundays at Cutteslowe park, I'll be sure to check).
A very warm day is 100 degrees; the same
I'd be boiling then.
reflects that I'm running a slight fever
(apparently Fahrenheit was
when he set the 100 degree point).
I don't think that there's much to choose between 97.8 and 37.5.
0 degrees is a very cold day and
the temperature of my home freezer.
Whereas my 0 is when the car will skid slightly more than normal.
Your zero doesn't happen where I live (luckily).
Isn't C vs F a separate off topic pointless argument?
Antonio