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And "erb" for "herb", "parmejhan" for "parmigiana" [I have no idea how to render that one in text], etc.

Ahem. _ery_. A confectionary is a manufactory of confectionery.

?? The avoirdupois measures are not only silly by themselves, but bring in all these weird fractional measurements. I don't want a ruler calibrated in eighty-fifths of a cubit, I want a centimetric ruler as used by God.

In math classes where they use these crazy measures, I always work it out once the intended way and once again in SI units, with "... as God intended" next to the SI answer.

On the topic of unit silliness, doesn't England still use the mile in common speech?

And road signage the last time I was there (a couple years back).

-- Grant Edwards grante Yow! -- I love KATRINKA at because she drives a visi.com PONTIAC. We're going awaynow. I fed the cat.

Not at all. Try dividing a meter into thirds or sixths.

They tried to make a decimal clock and calendar too, but for some reason, that never caught on.

I don't know whether anybody proposed a decimal system of circular degrees ..

I'd also like to see the ruler God uses. But is it base-10? How many fingers does God have? :)

And stones when talking about the weight of people. --mpa

Maybe they should switch to Nautical Miles, which is now more in more common use than miles. :-)

I believe that was "throat-warbler-mangrove"...

Regards,

Michael

For accurate measurements, or calculations, metric units are much nicer to work with. But for many rough measurements, feet and inches (for example) can be better because the numbers are smaller and neater (just change units if they are too big, or need small fractions or decimals), and the implied accuracy is more appropriate. For example, if you say something is four feet long, the implied accuracy is different than if you say it is 120 cm long.

Given that this is c.a.e., it's also worth noting how many people prefer mils when talking about pcb design. People here in Norway don't know how long an inch is, never mind a cubit, but most would use pcb track widths of 6, 8, or 10 mil rather than 0.15 mm, 0.20 or 0.25 mm.

There is "gradians", which have 100 grads to the right angle (every calculator can work in degrees, radians, and gradians). Apparently (according to Wolfram Math World - why can't Americans spell "maths" properly?) grads are occasionally used in surveying, but they never caught on elsewhere.

Don't they use "miles" in other English-speaking countries? In the UK, they are the standard unit for distances and car speeds. And we still drive on the correct side of the road (you are supposed to meet oncoming traffic with your sword hand in the centre).

Some horse auctions still measure horses in "hands", and price them in "guineas".

Human usage of the little markers on a ruler are usually false indications of precision, in both systems.

It probably ascended from puny attempts at mathematics such as 'numbers' and puny attempts at existence such as 'life'. Or It died long ago. Or It never really existed...

Almost right:

(Fade in on ordinary interview set. Interviewer sitting with man with large Semitic (Jewish) polystyrene nose.)

Interviewer: Good evening. I have with me in the studio tonight one of Britain's leading skin specialists - Raymond Luxury Yacht.

Raymond: That's not my name.

Interviewer: I'm sorry - Raymond Luxury Yach-t.

Raymond: No, no, no - it's spelt Raymond: Luxury Yach-t, but it's pronounced 'Throatwobbler Mangrove'.

Interviewer: You're a very silly man and I'm not going to interview you.

Raymond: Ah, anti-semitism!

Interviewer: Not at all. It's not even a proper nose. (takes it off) It's polystyrene.

Raymond: Give me my nose back.

Interviewer: You can collect it at reception. Now go away.

Raymond: I want to be on the television.

Interviewer: Well you can't.

That's a very interesting point.

Also very interesting. It seems that people don't like decimals in conversation.

Well, that marks me out for an idiot then .. of course. I forgot grads.

You're right: they never really see use outside of surveying and civil engineering. But my father is a civil engineer, so I am wholly without excuse. :)

Do you mean the numbers used to write down bases? If so, I don't quite agree: I say that base only matters in representation, and so base numbers are also independent of their representation, as is any number. As any devout Pythagorean can tell you, *number* exists quite completely apart from fingers and marks on paper. (I'm sure you can check this with any nearby devout Pythagorean) --mpa

Yes ....... and I only know my weight in Stone (I'm serious).

Regards, Richard.

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And aircraft altitudes are by default quoted in feet.

Actually no... grads have fallen off many/most scientific calculators. I daresay they still exist on specialized engineering calculators, though.

We measure geographic distances in miles and, in general, people's weight in stones. The best one that I have come across is when buying fabric. The length off the roll is priced in pounds per metre (note the correct spelling used here ;-) ). The width is usually 36 or 52 inches.

Most Brits have a pretty good understanding of both imperial and metric systems and can approximate into both systems, particularly for common commodities - 2lb of sugar is near enough 1kg (well 908g for the pedantic). The real problem that we have when using American units are your shrunken liquid measures. An american pint of 6X really would not be acceptable.

Ian

No, I was being a little more subtle (or silly, depending on your viewpoint) than that. Consider binary - it's base two. But how do you write "two" in binary? So binary is base 10, just like any other base (except unary, popular on Turing machines, which is slightly different from other bases).

....although it is now illegal for a shop to sell you sugar by the lb in the UK, so don't try it or there will be trouble.

Regards, Richard.

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No. The traditional English measurement of distance is the "pub". "Turn left at the Green Man, right at the Queen Vic ...". But you have to allow for rural and urban differences, such as the town hall and the windmill.

Stephen

It seems to be a particular feature of rural England that small villages must have names that are pronounced differently to how they are spelled - I think it is primarily to identify strangers. i.e. Wrotham (said root am) Leominster (said lemster) Bellevoire (said Beaver)

Then there is always Nempnett Thrubwell (pronounced Nempnett Thrubwell).

Regards, Richard.

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There's a rather good little book by Douglas Adams called "The Meaning of Liff" whereby he uses the quaint little village names as words to describe things which should have words but don't. In fact I've spotted it on-line -

Random excerpts: ABILENE (adj.) Descriptive of the pleasing coolness on the reverse side of the pillow.

ABINGER (n.) One who washes up everything except the frying pan, the cheese grater and the saucepan which the chocolate sauce has been made in

A cracking good read and a good way to while away the long drag of the last work day before Christmas.

Oh, here at work (where we have a bunch of Z80 based legacy products) I hear "zee-80" all the time.