On Tue, 19 Dec 2000 06:59:40 +0100, you wrote:
>"Un demi" effectively means - theoretically - half a liter. In the
>practice, "un demi" stands for a glass of beer (don't you say
>"draught beer" ?), not a beer in a bottle. Whatever the real quantity
>is, from 250 to 500 ml.
>
>"Une pinte" is a term only used by young people. Not a slang word,
>just a familiar word, meaning "une bière", whatever the container
>(glass or bottle) and the quantity (250 to 500 ml) are.
>
>I don't think the matter deserves an argument...
>
>To my knowledge, there a no regulations about that. What is
>compulsory is to post somewhere in the "bistrot" the price of the
>various drinks specifying the exact volume served (in cl or ml).
>
Louis:
Thanks you very much for the information. It seems that the newsgroup
poster was partly right. You may be right in saying it's not worth the
argument, but it's disappointing that the term 'pinte' has been
adapted by young people. Presumably it's another of these examples of
English terms being seen as 'cool'.
The ng poster didn't seem too sure what his point was. He seemed to be
saying that a 'pint' was a convenient size, so even metric countries
use it. On the other hand, he seemed to be saying that the fact that
these names are used was some argument against metric. I loce the way
that people clutch at straws, and use trivial examples to try to make
metric look bad!
Chris
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