[USMA:33377] Metric brainboxes

A bit of a belated response but I have to ask: Stephen Humphreys wrote: 1) If I started expressing stuff in m, cm, kg etc when imperial tends to get spoken it won't be long until I get called "Mr Professor" or "Dr Brainbox". Hardly an insult but worth pondering over. Is this a freudian slip

[USMA:33376] Re: Where are you from?

This sounds odd to me. If he drove up to Toronto from via the crossing at Fort Erie he would have driven about 130 km along the QEW before arriving in Toronto. Meaning he would have encountered a large sign at the border stating the road signage is metric and the numerous speed and distance si

[USMA:33375] Teaching assistants

I read with some amusement in the New York Times this morning, an article describing how university undergraduates are having trouble understand accents of their foreign-born teaching assistants. I think the problem is bigger than just getting the teaching assistants to speak better English. http

[USMA:33374] resistance to change

A lot has been said over the last few days about the way people react to metric. Discussion points have included anecdotal evidence of how it is received both in the USA and the UK, theorising about group behaviour and the theories of eminent psychologists. It would certainly help to understan

[USMA:33373] RE: laws in trade debate

So in the interest of clarity, do you condemn or support the actions of Mr Thorburne in trying to deny this choice to this customers ? So long as he offered the right for someone to ask for and get a kilo of whatever I'm happy. What I'm slightly uncomfortable with is talking about someone who

[USMA:33372] RE: A Pound of Bananas

From: Tom Wade VMS Systems <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: "U.S. Metric Association" Subject: [USMA:33368] RE: A Pound of Bananas Date: Fri, 24 Jun 2005 14:49:02 +0100 (WET-DST) >The state's official politics is socialism. If so, then this must be because the people el

[USMA:33371] RE: A kilo of Socialism

At 24 06 05, 01:59 AM, Stephen Humphreys wrote: >> > >I think I know where the poster is coming from. >Similar to the UK, there is this a constant (albeit not legal) requirement to >"beat last year's profit". >It's almost deemed as some sort of tragedy if the current year's profits a

[USMA:33370] RE: A kilo of Socialism

At 23 06 05, 09:54 PM, Daniel wrote (emphasis added): One of my beefs with some companies is that when times get tough, it is the worker who needs the job and the income who is called upon to make sacrifices, either by being forced to take a cut in benefits, salary, or even being laid off.   Yet

[USMA:33368] RE: A Pound of Bananas

>The state's official politics is socialism. If so, then this must be because the people elected a socialist government. >I am not a socialist. I don't like socialism Nor do I. So by your logic, people who don't like socialist policies should be free to choose which laws they obey (e.g. pay t

[USMA:33369] RE: laws in trade debate

>However, let me make my view perfectly clear - when it comes to the >butcher's shop or the green grocer I believe that both systems should be >used with no preference to either on offer. The preference should be left >entirely with the customer. So in the interest of clarity, do you condemn o

[USMA:33367] Re: Where are you from?

> I think you implied they are when you said: > > 1) If I started expressing stuff in m, cm, kg etc > when imperial tends to get > spoken it won't be long until I get called "Mr > Professor" or "Dr Brainbox". > Hardly an insult but worth pondering over. Last night, in Toronto, a social club that

[USMA:33366] Re: Where are you from?

If they are stuck in their ways and don't want to change, then they are sheep. They are followers and not leaders. If you are "stuck in your ways" how on earth can you "follow someone". In you theory those who change to metric are sheep because they are following something. I believe your

[USMA:33365] RE: A kilo of Socialism

> I think I know where the poster is coming from. Similar to the UK, there is this a constant (albeit not legal) requirement to "beat last year's profit". It's almost deemed as some sort of tragedy if the current year's profits a lower than last year's. This gives the company an

[USMA:33364] Re: soft metric conversions

Did the Germans ever have a "pint" previous to metrication? If so, what was it called? I'm not sure - I've never heard the name. The only two countries that use "pint" in their own languages that I can think of is Netherlands (pijnte) and France (pint). In the UK the Welsh for pint is