There is an Amish Dutch market near my house. There is a butcher, a vegetable counter, a bakery, a candy store, and a delicatessen, among other things.
The delicatessen sells various potato and macaroni salads and other things in three containers - small, medium, and large. The price is determined by the reading of the container on the scale once it is filled. Despite the fact that what people really want is a small, a medium, or a large container, filled, the way most of them ask for it is that they want a "pound" of the product being purchased. And at the butcher they ask for a two "pounds" of sausage when this is something you count and what they really want is four, or six, or eight sausages. Strange. Carleton -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Stephen Humphreys Sent: Monday, April 23, 2007 07:31 To: U.S. Metric Association Subject: [USMA:38484] Re: Unexpected appearance of SI in US media Mostly, people don't use an entire slab of butter when cooking (how bad for the heart would that be?). I'm backing Jason here - whenever I make an omlette, for example, I take a "bit" of butter for the pan. I don't break out a science book and use accuracies of butter en-meltment (made-up new word!) based upon a precise theory. This accounts for most, and perhaps sometimes, all daily activities. Martin- ask the average shopper for the "mass" of the butter they just bought, next time you're in Tesco. You might be suprised (but I hope not) at how many people use appearance (and "large", "small" etc) to make their decisions. >From: "Martin Vlietstra" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >To: "U.S. Metric Association" <[email protected]> >Subject: [USMA:38477] Re: Unexpected appearance of SI in US media >Date: Sat, 21 Apr 2007 22:10:45 +0100 > >Re: [USMA:38469] Re: Unexpected appearance of SI in US mediaThe problem >with cooking arises when I am confronted with American recipes - what is a >"stick of butter"? I havn't got a clue. In the UK, we buy our butter in >250g or 500g packs. The "Concise Oxford Dictionary" devotes a whole page >to the word "stick", but I am left none the wiser. On the other hand, a >French recipe might have "100 g buerre" I can look up the meaning of >"buerre" in any English-French dictionary. This, I think, illustrates the >need to use a consistent set of units across the nations of the earth. > ----- Original Message ----- > From: James Jason Wentworth > To: U.S. Metric Association > Sent: Saturday, April 21, 2007 7:44 PM > Subject: [USMA:38475] Re: Unexpected appearance of SI in US media > > > *Sigh* When I prepare tomato soup for lunch, I add one can of water >(using the soup can, as instructed on the label) to the condensed soup in >the sauce pan, then heat it on simmer, stirring occasionally. > > That's not a scientific experiment, just a meal, and the units used in >preparing it are irrelevent to me as well as to 99.999% of other people who >prepare similar cans of soup. (Other recipes do require greater precision >in ingredient quantities, temperatures, and cooking times, of course). But >even then, the choice of units is irrelevant. What matters is that they be >consistently used in a recipe. > > The same is true for most of the daily activities of most people--it >doesn't matter what units (if any) they actively use as long as they are >from the same system or collection of units. > > > -- Jason > ----- Original Message ----- > From: Pat Naughtin > To: U.S. Metric Association > Sent: Friday, April 20, 2007 9:26 PM > Subject: [USMA:38470] Re: Unexpected appearance of SI in US media > > > On 2007 04 21 2:42 PM, "James Jason Wentworth" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >wrote: > > > Many people even in metric countries (cooks, carpenters, plumbers, >etc.) don't consider *all* measurement scientific. -- Jason > > > > > Dear Jason, > > I think that the Marquis de Condorcet (1743/1794) put it rather well >when he referred to the metric system as: > > 'A tous les peuples; a tous les temps' > ('For all people; for all time') > > > Together with the developers of the metric system in the 1790s he >believed that the metric system was for everyone - and in all activities. > > They were aware that nothing affects human activities so much as the >choice of the methods of measurement. No other aspect of our behavior >influences the course of human activity so directly and so universally. I >think that this was recognised by the developers of the metric system when >they adopted the Marquis de Condorcet's motto. > > Looking at this a little more broadly, it seems that there are four >universal methods of written communication. > > The four methods that cross all language barriers are: > > q the way of writing notes for music, > > q the set of mathematical signs and symbols, > > q the symbols for chemical elements, and > > q the International System of Units (SI). > > These four methods can be understood wherever you are in the world and >whatever language you use to speak and to write. It doesn't even matter if >you write with an alphabet or you use pictograms; you will still be able to >understand these four international methods. > > Cheers, > > Pat Naughtin > PO Box 305, Belmont, 3216 > Geelong, Australia > Phone 61 3 5241 2008 > > Pat Naughtin is the editor of the free online monthly newsletter, >'Metrication matters'. > Subscribe at http://www.metricationmatters.com/newsletter > > Pat is recognised as a Lifetime Certified Advanced Metrication >Specialist (LCAMS) with the United States Metric Association. He is also >editor of the 'Numbers and measurement' section of the Australian >Government Publishing Service 'Style manual - for writers, editors and >printers'. He is a Member of the National Speakers Association of Australia >and the International Federation for Professional Speakers. See: >http://www.metricationmatters.com > > This email and its attachments are for the sole use of the addressee >and may contain information that is confidential and/or legally privileged. >This email and its attachments are subject to copyright and should not be >partly or wholly reproduced without the consent of the copyright owner. Any >unauthorised use of disclosure of this email or its attachments is >prohibited. If you receive this email in error, please immediately delete >it from your system and notify the sender by return email. > _________________________________________________________________ Txt a lot? Get Messenger FREE on your mobile. https://livemessenger.mobile.uk.msn.com/
