But you do agree that the duim was equal to the centimetre for a period of 50 years. So is the remnant duimstick referring to an inch stick or a centimetre stick?
Jerry ________________________________ From: Martin Vlietstra <vliets...@btinternet.com> To: U.S. Metric Association <usma@colostate.edu> Sent: Friday, April 10, 2009 1:50:21 PM Subject: [USMA:44538] RE: Reasoable Language (was Metrication US) Jerry wrote “So Hans' duimstok is really a zentimeterstok”. However the article below stated “Een ander overblijfsel is het woord duimstok.” This translates as “Another remnant is the word duimstok”. ________________________________ From:owner-u...@colostate.edu [mailto:owner-u...@colostate.edu] On Behalf Of Jeremiah MacGregor Sent: 10 April 2009 06:36 To: U.S. Metric Association Subject: [USMA:44503] RE: Reasoable Language (was Metrication US ) A polegada is equal to 1/12 pé, 2..777 centimeters, or 1.093 inches. Thus the polegada is larger than an inch. A pulgada is equal to 1/12 pie (see above). The pulgada varies from about 23.2 to 24.1 millimeters (0.913 to 0.949 inch). Thus the pulgada is shorter than the inch and a polegada. As for duim, not one of the towns it was used in before being made illegal in 1870 was equal to the English inch. It also seems that in 1820 the duim was set equal to the centimeter, so in essence it was a metric unit for 50 years. So Hans' duimstok is really a zentimeterstok. Note also that in Amsterdam that it took 11 duims to equal 1 voet, and not 12. Duim (lengtemaat) Jerry ________________________________ From:John M. Steele < jmsteele9...@sbcglobal.net > To: U.S. Metric Association <usma@colostate.edu> Sent: Monday, April 6, 2009 4:33:54 PM Subject: [USMA:44455] RE: Reasoable Language (was Metrication US ) Portuguese is very similar, as might be expected from Portugal being right next door to Spain Polegar is thumb, polegada is inch. Pé is foot, both anatomical and measurement-related. --- On Mon, 4/6/09, Stephen Mangum < slo...@gmail.com > wrote: From: Stephen Mangum < slo...@gmail.com > Subject: [USMA:44449] RE: Reasoable Language (was Metrication US ) To: "U.S. Metric Association" <usma@colostate.edu> Cc: "U.S. Metric Association" <u...@colostate..edu> Date: Monday, April 6, 2009, 3:28 PM The Spanish word for inch is "pulgada." Like most words for inch, it is similar to word for "thumb," which in this case is "pulgar." Of course no Spanish-speaking country uses inches or feet. Naturally the original pulgada, pre-metrication, was not equal to 25.4 mm or the barley-based system you mention. But the word "pulgada" now refers to the 25.4 mm international inch. Similarly the word "pie" means "foot," in both the measurement and anatomy. Stephen Mangum On Sun, Apr 5, 2009 at 7:26 PM, Jeremiah MacGregor <jeremiahmacgre...@rocketmail..com> wrote: Martin, I agree that the duim is a body part that some people used it to measure things with in the past like the foot. I don't agree that it is the same as the inch. The inch was defined as three barley corns round and dry. Can you tell me the original official definition of the duim? I would suspect that it was not related to barley corns. Thus my point is, the two are not the same. No disrespect was intended.. I'm sure we can find a list of units that were used in various countries that have no equivalent to English units. Jerry ________________________________ From:Martin Vlietstra <vliets...@btinternet.com> To: jeremiahmacgre...@rocketmail.com; U.S. Metric Association <usma@colostate.edu> Sent: Sunday, April 5, 2009 3:53:03 PM Subject: RE: [USMA:44374] RE: Reasoable Language (was Metrication US ) Jerry, Two things: 1) Please do Han the courtesy of assuming that is command of Dutch is better than yours – the “.nl” at the end of his e-mail address suggests to me that Dutch is probably his mother tongue... 2) I can vouch for the fact that the word “duim” means both “thumb” and “inch” in both Dutch and Afrikaans (I speak both languages). In English, the word “foot” can either be part of the human anatomy or it can be a unit of measure. In Dutch and in Afrikaans, both the words “voet” and “duim” are units of measure and are also parts of the human anatomy. ________________________________ From:owner-u...@colostate.edu [mailto:owner-u...@colostate.edu] On Behalf Of Jeremiah MacGregor Sent: 05 April 2009 14:28 To: U.S. Metric Association Subject: [USMA:44374] RE: Reasoable Language (was Metrication US ) … snip Doesn't the word "Duimstok" literally mean "thumb stick"? A thumb and an inch are not really they same thing, even if they are close. … snip Jerry ________________________________ From:Han Maenen < han.mae...@orange.nl > To: U.S. Metric Association <usma@colostate.edu> Sent: Sunday, April 5, 2009 5:54:11 AM Subject: [USMA:44369] RE: Reasoable Language (was Metrication US ) I agree with Bll Potts. Leave expressions like 'inch by inch' or 'not an inch' alone. Those opposed to metric would love it if we wanted to change such things. In the Netherlands a folding measuring stick is called a 'duimstok', which is 'inch stick' in English.. I have a wooden duimstok or inch stick with centimetres only on it. I just avoid measuring instruments with dual units like the plague. Just west of of Dublin is the suburb Inchicore, how lunatic it would be to change that to 2.54cmcore, or Sixmilebridge near Limerick to '9.6 km-Bridge'. Of course, the distance to Sixmilebridge is always given in km on road signs: 'Sixmilebridge 10 km'. There is a small place in Ireland called Inch. And people in metric countries should never give an inch to Imperial and/or U.S. Customary in their own environment. That would be very beneficial to metrication. Han ----- Original Message ----- From:Bill Potts To:U.S. Metric Association Sent:Monday, 2009, March 30 22:30 Subject:[USMA:44234] RE: Reasonable Language (was Metrication US ) Pat and John: For years, some of us on this list have tried to be reassuring to the metrication-averse and to also counter some of the stranger statements made by the more virulent opponents of metrication. <snip> -- Stephen Duim, oude Nederlandse lengtemaat die ongeveer gelijk is aan de breedte van het bovenste kootje van de duim van een volwassen man. Een duim heeft afhankelijk van de streek een andere lengte. § Amsterdamse duim is 2,57393636 cm (11 Amsterdamse duim is 1 Amsterdamse voet) § Franse duim is 2,7 cm § Gelderse of Nijmeegse duim is 2,7 cm § Hondsbosse en Rijpse duim is 2,4 cm § Rijnlandse duim is 2,61 cm Bij de invoering van het Nederlands metriek stelsel in 1820 werd de duim gelijk gesteld aan een centimeter, echter in 1870 werd de duim afgeschaft. Een duim komt tegenwoordig overeen met een Engelse inch (2,54 cm). In de techniek wordt de duim nog wel eens informeel gebruikt, men spreekt dan bijvoorbeeld van een drieduims pijp. Een ander overblijfsel is het woord duimstok.
