No, but I understood what the 18 and 6 yard boxes were in football :) Measuring out cups of flour is easier than getting the scales out when making Yorkshire puddings.
> On 21 Jul 2020, at 10:33 pm, Martin Packer <martin_pac...@uk.ibm.com> wrote: > > Then the 440 yard and 880 yard races would've meant nothing to you at > school. :-) > > Cheers, Martin > > Martin Packer > > zChampion, Systems Investigator & Performance Troubleshooter, IBM > > +44-7802-245-584 > > email: martin_pac...@uk.ibm.com > > Twitter / Facebook IDs: MartinPacker > > Blog: https://mainframeperformancetopics.com > > Podcast Series (With Marna Walle): https://developer.ibm.com/tv/mpt/ or > > https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/mainframe-performance-topics/id1127943573?mt=2 > > > Youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCu_65HaYgksbF6Q8SQ4oOvA > > > > From: David Crayford <dcrayf...@gmail.com> > To: IBM-MAIN@LISTSERV.UA.EDU > Date: 21/07/2020 14:58 > Subject: [EXTERNAL] Re: OOBOL and English was Re: Still COBOL After > All These Years? > Sent by: IBM Mainframe Discussion List <IBM-MAIN@LISTSERV.UA.EDU> > > > > I agree that cups are useful! The only time I find Imperial useful is > reading US recipes that use cups. Other than that Imperial is brain > damaged! And I say that having grown up in the UK to a family which used > Imperial all the time in my youth. > I used to go to the sweet shop and ask for a quarter of a pound of > American hard gums! > > I recently watched a US home improvements show and couldn't fathom how > anybody could make sense of 1/16th of an inch. I couldn't tell you how > many yards to a mile but meters to a KM is simple. > >> On 2020-07-21 9:46 PM, Pew, Curtis G wrote: >> On Jul 20, 2020, at 10:22 PM, Jackson, Rob <rwjack...@firsthorizon.com> > wrote: >>> American standard--Imperial units; they're rubbish. Abject garbage. SI > is not a fad, despite its origins. No fan of the "French;" no fan of > "Trump;" no fan of anything political. But SI, revised a couple times or > three, is a beautiful system of units in which one may compute physics. If > you disagree, then I assert you have a challenge understanding many things > about physics. I'm talking about mechanics and fluid dynamics. I'm too > stupid for E&M, although the same equivalency attempts apply there. >> For science and engineering I totally agree: you should never use > anything but SI units. They have precise definitions, and being > decimal-based make calculations easier. Not to mention being used > world-wide. >> >> For everyday life, though, I think American/Imperial units (and any > other traditional systems that may survive elsewhere) have their > advantages. They evolved because people found them useful. For example, > when I’m cooking I could say 250 milliliters or one cup (they’re close > enough for the precision I need) but one cup is simpler. Or if my > pedometer says I’ve walked 2000 steps I know I’ve gone about a mile. > (“Mile” comes from “mille passuum” = “a thousand of steps”; my pedometer > counts left and right as separate steps but for the Romans you had to move > both before they counted it.) >> >> >>> P.S. Apparently Imperial units have been redefined as relative to SI. > Imagine that. >> Yep. For precision definitions, always use SI. >> >> I think it’s cool that SI units are now defined by specifying exact > values for physical constants. >> >> >>> P.P.S. This reminds me of many conversations with my father. He > absolutely couldn't stand this type of thing, i.e. SI being obviously > superior. I don't get it. It is what it is. >>> >>> As a disclaimer, I'm not a complete bigot. I say miles and yards; but > I have this nasty habit of converting them to meters in my mind every time > I say them. The one thing I cannot get used to in every-day life is > Celsius degrees. I think in Fahrenheit degrees. Oddly enough, since > they're exactly the same thing, I find it easier to talk in Kelvins rather > than Celsius degrees. Maybe I just like starting at zero. :) I couldn't > tell you what absolute zero in Fahrenheit is; I guess I never cared. >> This supports my point about the convenience of traditional units. > Fahrenheit is more granular than Celsius, so you can be a bit more precise > without having to go to decimals. >> >> > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, > send email to lists...@listserv.ua.edu with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN > > > > > Unless stated otherwise above: > IBM United Kingdom Limited - Registered in England and Wales with number > 741598. > Registered office: PO Box 41, North Harbour, Portsmouth, Hampshire PO6 3AU > > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, > send email to lists...@listserv.ua.edu with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to lists...@listserv.ua.edu with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN
