Boxing Day is a legal holiday in Canada and the UK. Solicitor is used in
Canada, although not as much as the UK. Medicare is unknown in Canada, which
has a federally prescribed provincially run universal health system (e.g. in
Ontario, it is OHIP - Ontario Health Insurance Plan, this was 10 years ago when
I last lived there, it may be different now).
----- Original Message -----
From: Ken Cooper
To: U.S. Metric Association
Sent: Saturday, March 07, 2009 2:36 PM
Subject: [USMA:43403] Re: USC units spread to the UK - and no-one notices!
John
Your theory holds water, as further purusal of the diary throws up the
following:-
"UK-specific" (ie non-US) references *Boxing Day* *Solicitor*
"US-specific" (ie non-UK) references *Medicare number*
All three of these references would be valid in Canada, I believe.
--- On Tue, 3/3/09, John M. Steele <jmsteele9...@sbcglobal.net> wrote:
From: John M. Steele <jmsteele9...@sbcglobal.net>
Subject: [USMA:43342] Re: USC units spread to the UK - and no-one
notices!
To: "U.S. Metric Association" <usma@colostate.edu>
Date: Tuesday, March 3, 2009, 2:03 PM
"Solicitor" is not a common term here, listings would be under
lawyers or attorneys in a telephone directory. Also Boxing Day is virtually
unknown here; it appears only on calendars that try to appeal to a "universal
English-speaking audience". Those try to list all Australian, Canadian, UK and
US holidays as a big jumble.
You might look for signs it is Canadian. Being right next door but a
Commonwealth nation, they are most likely to mix UK and US practices. They
tend to accept USC measure as dual marking provided the metric is correct..
I'm not sure it is legally accepted, but there doesn't seem to be enforcement.
I would also guess that few Americans could tell you the correct size
of a US gallon or bushel either in cubic inches or liters, so the reverse error
would go equally undetected here.
--- On Tue, 3/3/09, Ken Cooper <k_cooper1...@yahoo.com> wrote:
> From: Ken Cooper <k_cooper1...@yahoo.com>
> Subject: [USMA:43341] Re: USC units spread to the UK - and no-one
notices!
> To: "U.S. Metric Association" <usma@colostate.edu>
> Date: Tuesday, March 3, 2009, 8:35 AM
> Paul
>
> I had a look this morning - it's not clear.
>
> The picture on the wrap-around cover is definitely local
> (probably supplied by the hotel) & the printer has
> coped with the Scots Gaelic hotel name & has given the
> UK postcode & phone number in the normal manner.
>
> There's no mention of a publisher's name, and I
> think that the Public Holidays marked would relate to both
> the UK & US (New Year's Day, Good Friday, Easter
> Sunday, Easter Monday, Christmas Day & Boxing Day)
>
> There are no mentions of US holidays like the 4th of July
> or Thanksgiving, or of UK public holidays like May Day.
>
> The only other clue would be that in the "important
> numbers" section, one of the categories given is
> "solicitor" - wouldn't that tend to be
> "lawyer" or "advocate" in a US diary? Is
> "solicitor" an accepted term for a legal
> practitioner in the USA?
>
> --- On Tue, 3/3/09, Paul Trusten, R.Ph.
> <trus...@grandecom.net> wrote:
>
> From: Paul Trusten, R.Ph. <trus...@grandecom.net>
> Subject: Re: [USMA:43336] USC units spread to the UK - and
> no-one notices!
> To: k_cooper1...@yahoo..com
> Date: Tuesday, March 3, 2009, 1:09 AM
>
> Ken, could it be that the diaries are imported from the
> U.S.?
>
> Quoting Ken Cooper <k_cooper1...@yahoo.com>:
>
> > One of my local hotels hands out small diaries as new
> year gifts to
> > customers/visitors etc.
> >
> > I note that this year's version has a section
> entitled
> "conversions"
> > underneath the time-zones map.
> >
> > I was intrigued to note that it had different sections
> for dry & for
> liquid
> > measure, and that the liquid measure gave conversions
> for fluid ounce,
> quart
> > & gallon - but not for pint.
> >
> > On closer examination, I found that the fluid ounce
> was defined as 29 and
> a
> > bit millilitres, the quart as ~946ml & the gallon
> as ~3.79 litres.
> >
> > Now, as everyone knows, these figures would be correct
> in USC, but are all
> > incorrect in UK imperial.
> >
> > I'll lay odds that practically no-one actually
> noticed though. Can I
> suggest
> > that this shows the irrelevancy of imperial liquid
> measure in the UK?
> People
> > recognise an imperial pint in the pub, but appear to
> be unable to relate
> it
> > to the smaller (fl. oz.) & larger (gallon)
> measures in the system.
> >
> > What point is there in perpetuating a system where the
> majority of people
> > don't understand it any more?
> >
> >
> >
>
>
> --
>
>
>
> Paul Trusten, R.Ph.
> Public Relations Director
> U.S. Metric Association (USMA), Inc.
> www.metric.org
> 3609 Caldera Boulevard, Apartment 122
> Midland TX 79707-2872 US
> +1(432)528-7724
> mailto:trus...@grandecom.net
