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On Tue, 14 Oct 2008 20:04:34 +0100, Stephen wrote:
> On 14 Oct 2008 14:57:39 -0400, Jim Henderson <nos### [at] nospam com> wrote:
>
>
>>I always found it weird in the UK that distances are in miles and
>>mileage seems to be in MPG (but imperial gallons), but the purchase of
>>petrol is by the litre.
>
> You mean that imperial doesn't mean American? <g>
Your gallons are bigger than ours. That's how you manage 55 MPG in your
cars. ;-)
>>That makes it *really* difficult to figure out fuel efficiency if you
>>don't have a computer to do that in your car.
>
> Only if you're innumerate :P
You forget that America is the land of the innumerate. ;-)
Jim
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On Tue, 14 Oct 2008 12:19:03 -0700, Darren New wrote:
> Jim Henderson wrote:
>> That makes it *really* difficult to figure out fuel efficiency if you
>> don't have a computer to do that in your car.
>
> Oh, my observation is that in the US, odometers (distance measures in
> the dashboard) read in tenths of miles, permanent signs are in halves
> and quarters of miles (as in, "next exit 2 1/2 miles") and temporary
> signs are in thousands of feet (as in "road construction 2000 feet").
>
> That *does* make it a bit difficult to figure out wtf is going on. :-)
True, that it does.
In the UK, aren't speeds in KPH, but signs in miles? It's been a few
years, but I wanted to say that that was the other odd thing about
driving over there. Maybe I'm remembering wrong.
Jim
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On Tue, 14 Oct 2008 11:37:00 -0700, Darren New wrote:
> Does anyone really say "klick" for kilometers? "Three klicks down the
> road" I've read in fiction books, but never heard outside of that.
I think I've heard some folks in the military use that terminology.
Jim
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Jim Henderson wrote:
> In the UK, aren't speeds in KPH, but signs in miles? It's been a few
> years, but I wanted to say that that was the other odd thing about
> driving over there. Maybe I'm remembering wrong.
My understanding was that it's meant to be a temporary problem, not
lasting more than a generation. Imperial units usage was common there
until recently, and is still common when it comes to miles. The hope was
that the new generation will be more comfortable with km. No idea if
that's the case.
I believe (others can correct me if I'm wrong), almost all signs there
are in both miles and kilometers.
--
It is kisstomary to cuss the bride.
/\ /\ /\ /
/ \/ \ u e e n / \/ a w a z
>>>>>>mue### [at] nawazorg<<<<<<
anl
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Warp wrote:
> There's one thing where imperial units beat the metric system, and it's
> that their names *sound* better, at least in English.
>
> For example an expression like "it went for miles and miles" sounds a
> lot more fluent than "it went for kilometers and kilometers". (Or is it
> "kilometres"? You see, there's even confusion in that...)
>
> Likewise: "It missed me by mere inches" sounds more fluent than "it
> missed me by mere centimeters".
>
> Maybe this is simply because I have seen too many Hollywood movies.
I suspect you answered the question.
I lived in a place that has been using the metric system for a long
time, and perhaps never used the Imperial system (at least not in modern
times). Phrases like you mentioned were common - in both English and the
local language. No one thought it awkward.
--
It is kisstomary to cuss the bride.
/\ /\ /\ /
/ \/ \ u e e n / \/ a w a z
>>>>>>mue### [at] nawazorg<<<<<<
anl
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On Tue, 14 Oct 2008 23:13:05 +0200, andrel <a_l### [at] hotmailcom> wrote:
>
>> Whether you think it's logical or not is your call.
>
>indeed, and I think it is totally nonsense. It may be true for some
>class of carpenters. Mainly for those with no relevant education and no
>skills in carpentry. Either the lowest ranking on the job or the
>manager.
That sounds a bit like snobbery to me.
--
Regards
Stephen
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On 15 Oct 2008 00:22:08 -0400, Jim Henderson <nos### [at] nospamcom> wrote:
>
>Your gallons are bigger than ours. That's how you manage 55 MPG in your
>cars. ;-)
>
Not in my car I don't :)
>>>That makes it *really* difficult to figure out fuel efficiency if you
>>>don't have a computer to do that in your car.
>>
>> Only if you're innumerate :P
>
>You forget that America is the land of the innumerate. ;-)
The young here are not much better. But then I was brought up before calculators
were affordable. In fact they were not allowed in exams. Today's kids look
aghast if you offer the correct money in a shop. Sad!
--
Regards
Stephen
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On Tue, 14 Oct 2008 21:46:35 +0200, "Gail" <gail (at) sql in the wild (dot) co
[dot] za> wrote:
>
>"Stephen" <mcavoysAT@aolDOTcom> wrote in message
>news:ggr9f4le7317k0dgv92kodesk2l4058iif@4ax.com...
>> On Tue, 14 Oct 2008 11:37:00 -0700, Darren New <dne### [at] sanrrcom> wrote:
>>
>>>
>>>Does anyone really say "klick" for kilometers? "Three klicks down the
>>>road" I've read in fiction books, but never heard outside of that.
>>
>> In Australia I've heard people sat Kays as in 8 Kays down the road
>
>That's the usage here too.
I thought that Klicks were a SF term for K/s
--
Regards
Stephen
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> It just seemed inconvenient for everyday things like food, where it's a
> rough estimate rather than a precise measure. But that seems to have been
> simply unfamiliarity.
It took me quite a long time (like over a year) to get really familiar with
speeds in km/hr. Now I definitely think in km/hr, especially since speeds
above 150 km/hr are rarely encountered in mph countries :-)
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> In the UK, aren't speeds in KPH, but signs in miles?
No both are in miles, but most cars sold in the UK have km/hr on the
dashboard too, incase you feel like taking your car over to a neighboring
country. Funnily enough, neighboring countries usually *only* have km/hr,
so if you decide to drive in the UK you have to work out the mph as you go
along :-)
Working out the MPG is hard yes, when I lived in the UK I used to write the
amount of litres and miles down each time I filled up. Every so often I
would take the list indoors and figure out the MPGs with a
computer/calculator. Working out the litres/100km fuel economy is much
simpler, and you can do it qutie accurately in your head whilst driving
without needing any conversion factors!
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