"Higgs Boson" wrote in message
...
On Sunday, November 17, 2013 4:58:21 PM UTC-8, songbird wrote:
David Hare-Scott wrote:

...

Apparently in the USA metric is approved but not compulsory (or
traditional

measures are not forbidden) consequently there is no money available for

conversion and education costs so nothing is done.



it is taught in the schools and it appears on all

packages that i've seen in recent years along with

the other measurements.


Y'see, Songie, that's eggzactly what I was on about -- the two sets of
measurements. I cited the awful, expensive, humiliating debacle of the Mars
shot as an example of potential -- in the case of the Mars weather shot --
ACTUAL damage when 2 sets of measurements try to exist side by side.

Always on the search for a conspiracy g I thought of the wonderful Latin
saying -- one of the half-dozen I remember -- "cui bono" = who profits?
Who DOES profit by retaining the anachronistic English measurement (a yard
is the distance from King John's nose to his outstretched hand) ?
------------------------------------------
But Higgs, the US doesn't even stick consistently to 'English' (which is
really called 'Imperial') meausres.

It does stick with those measures for ft and inches (but then why would
anyone have changed that? mewonders) but not with fluids.

US pints are short by 4 ounces because an Imperial Pint is 20 ounces. I
once had an argument with an American woman online who kept insisting that
'a pints a pint the world around'. For some reason she would neither
believe me when I stated that 20 ounces was more the norm for a pint outside
the US and nor would the silly woman use google. That's usenet
though........