"How the EU works: In Germany, they make the rules, in Britain, theyobey the rules, in France, they bend the rules, in Spain, they break therules, and in Italy they have no rules at all."

100 centimeter are 1 meter, so 3487 centimeters are 34.87 meters.
You needed four lines to explain the conversion, I just one.

But you cannot measure .87 meters with a meter gauge.

If you put it like this, you cannot measure 5 inches with a yard gauge,
either.

Anything can be decimalized, but the beauty of the imperial-type
measurements, is that they have natural subdivisions.

If by "natural" you mean chaotic, without any plan - well, then you're
right. Or where's the mathematical logic in 1 foot being 12 inch and 1
yard being 3 feet?

The beauty of the metric system is that it's always some factor of 10,
usually 1000. 1 kilometer are 1000 meters, 1000 millimeters are 1 meter,
1000 micrometers are 1 millimeter.

Nevertheless, if you like talking in subdivisions, you may use "1 meter
and 87 centimeters". Others simply say "1 meter, 87". Same stuff, no
conversion needed. This is not possible with the Imperial system.

Somewhat for the same reasons there is
more than a one euro, 1/10 euro, and 1/100 euro coin.

The Euro (and the Dollar and, I'd say, most other currencies) are
working like the metric system: By factors of 10. There's nothing like
the Imperial-style "1 Euro are 120 cents, and 1 cent is 45 bling".

On Sun, 20 Nov 2011 12:19:37 +0100, Martin wrote:

On Sun, 20 Nov 2011 11:18:19 +0100, Wolfgang Schwanke
wrote:

Dan Stephenson wrote in
news:2011111920594538159-stephedanospam@maccom:

On 2011-11-19 10:42:49 -0600, Irwell said:


Always carry a chain, you never know when you might want to
play a game of cricket. Or plough a furlong.

Or plough a hectare. Oh wait, is that a measure in System
Internationale?

Yes it is. An are is 10x10 meters. A hectare is 100 of those.

Few in UK have much feel for the size of an acre or know how many
square feet are in an acre.

Most British people who have anything to do with the land
will know that it is roughly 70 by 70 yards, more accurately
4840 square yards.

A furlong (old English for a furrow long) is 220 yards,
or 1/8th of a mile, so a chain 22 yards long can be used to
measure a cricket pitch length, or even a mile.

american cretinism


"Dan Stephenson" a écrit dans le message de groupe de discussion :
2011111920521050418-stephedanospam@maccom...

On 2011-11-19 15:46:05 -0600, Martin said:


I'm amazed that Americans are using decimal currency.

Back to the topic of Britain, I must say, the best way to get into
conversation with Britons is to ask "so, what is a shilling, anyway".
To date, no Briton has been able to resist talking up a storm about
their pre-decimal currency. It's pretty cool, actually, as a
historical thing, plus it is a GREAT way to make introductions.

Most likely we (Americans) use decimal currency for no other reason
than to be different than the British, from whom we won our
independence. It is also the reason a lot of our American English
words are different - to create a difference. Thus, the ommision of
"u" in color, favor, etc., and use of s in words like defense, offense.

I must say, in all my extensive travels in Europe, the one place I've
had the greatest trouble understand a European's English, is in
England. I don't mean to denigrate, but the thickness of some rural
accents is just incredible. Way more so than in America, a much bigger
place.
--
Dan Stephenson
http://web.mac.com/stepheda
Travel pages for Europe and the U.S.A. (and New Zealand too)

Dan Stephenson wrote:


I must say, in all my extensive travels in Europe, the one place I've had
the greatest trouble understand a European's English, is in England. I
don't mean to denigrate, but the thickness of some rural accents is just
incredible. Way more so than in America, a much bigger place.

Quite simple: several more centuries of isolated communities and language
drift. Here in the US, we diidn't stay that isolated long enough to develop
mutually incomprensible dialects as was the case in Europe.

--
Erilar, biblioholic medievalist with iPad

On 11/20/2011 10:29 AM, Wolfgang Schwanke wrote:
Dan wrote in
news:2011112009075315062-stephedanospam@maccom:

On 2011-11-20 04:07:09 -0600, Wolfgang Schwanke said:

Didn't the Irish use the variation, punt?

That's just Irish Gaelic for pound.

Question: did a pound once correspond to a pound weight of silver?

Yes at one time in the distant past it did. The connection to precious
metals has of course been decoupled long ago.

Question also: anyone know the origin of dollar and why it is used? I
visited a Dollar Castle once in Scotland. Maybe there was a Scot in
our Founding Fathers. Hmm.

The name is a corruption of "Thaler", short for "Joachimthaler", an
ancient coin that used to be minted in the Bohemian town of
"Joachimsthal", modern Czech name Jachymov. The American dollar was
named for that ancient European coin.

"Joachimsthal" is the German name of that town, which translates
"Joachim's valley". The -thal bit (modern German spelling "Tal") whence
the word "dollar" derives, is cognate to English "dale" as in "hill and
dale" and several placenames in England ending in -dale.

The same word occurs in "Neanderthal man" which is named for
"Neanderthal" (modern spelling "Neandertal"), the valley of the river
Neander where the first fossils were found.

Filled with pride in his classical learning, Joachim's grandfather
Neumann changed his name to "Neander" (both meaning "New Man"). Joachim
Neander was very popular and the name of the valley was changed to
"Neanderthal" in his honor.

--


James Silverton, Potomac

I'm *not*

On 11/20/2011 11:42 AM, Dan Stephenson wrote:
On 2011-11-20 09:35:00 -0600, S Viemeister said:

On 11/20/2011 10:11 AM, Dan Stephenson wrote:

Hey, so what is a guinea, anyway? I read about them in the old Ian
Fleming novels. And wat is a crown and a half-crown? I recall James Bond
spending one of those on a doctor and supposedly it was a large
denomination.

A guinea is 21 shillings.
A crown was 5 shillings
A half-crown was 2/6 (two-and-six)
A florin was two shillings.
A tanner was a sixpence.

Right, I remember a little now, how a guinea was one pound one shilling.
Rather, it was 21 shillings because it could be divided into three sets
of seven, iirc what I once knew.

Wasn't there a three-pence and two-pence coin? I have "thruppence" and
"tuppence" on my tongue for some reason. I bet the reason the 20-pence
coin is non-round is because the florin or whatever, was also not round.

And I recall a Hapenny bridge in Dublin because the toll was once a
half-penny. I wonder if there were other sub-penny divisions.

I seem to recall a super-pound coin, too, a sovereign? Right? Was that
the only super-pound coin (other than a guinea, technically).

All the harkens to a time when a pound was a LOT of money. Even in a
film just 40 years ago, from watching one of those George Smiley films
with the title character portrayed by Obi Wan Kenobi, there was an issue
made about an informant and a 'large sum' of something like 6 pounds
being referenced.

When I knew them the "florin" (2 shilling) coin was round. Strangely
enough, the coin came into being as a first, mid-19th century beginning
of metrification. For other reasons, the government proposing this fell
but the coin remained.

There never was a "tuppence" coin during my childhood but a very small
silver "threppence" was changed to a 12-sided bronze coin, the
"threppenny bit", when I was young.

--


James Silverton, Potomac

I'm *not*

Of course martin, in your dreams.


"Martin" a écrit dans le message de groupe de discussion :
...

On Sun, 20 Nov 2011 03:30:14 -0800 (PST), Surreyman
wrote:

On Nov 20, 10:07 am, Wolfgang Schwanke wrote:
Dan Stephenson wrote in
news:2011111920521050418- stephedanospam@maccom:

Back to the topic of Britain, I must say, the best way to get into
conversation with Britons is to ask "so, what is a shilling, anyway".
To date, no Briton has been able to resist talking up a storm about
their pre-decimal currency.

Only the older generations surely? Decimal day was in 1971, younger
people won't remember.

Most likely we (Americans) use decimal currency for no other reason
than to be different than the British, from whom we won our
independence.

When other Commonwealth countries decimalised around the same time,
they also renamed their currencies from pounds to dollars, hence
Australian and New Zealand dollars nowadays. Only UK and Ireland kept
the name pound.

--
Tank nur das gute Super rein

http://www.wschwanke.de/ http://www.fotos-aus-der-luft.de/
usenet_20031215 (AT) wschwanke (DOT) de

The Irish no longer have the pound.
But numerous other nations still do.

In metric countries like The Netherlands people still refer to ounces
and pounds when shopping, but of course they are metric ounces and
pounds, 100g and 500g respectively.
--

Martin

martin types nonsense as usual


"Irwell" a écrit dans le message de groupe de discussion :
...

On Sun, 20 Nov 2011 12:19:37 +0100, Martin wrote:

On Sun, 20 Nov 2011 11:18:19 +0100, Wolfgang Schwanke
wrote:

Dan Stephenson wrote in
news:2011111920594538159-stephedanospam@maccom:

On 2011-11-19 10:42:49 -0600, Irwell said:


Always carry a chain, you never know when you might want to
play a game of cricket. Or plough a furlong.

Or plough a hectare. Oh wait, is that a measure in System
Internationale?

Yes it is. An are is 10x10 meters. A hectare is 100 of those.

Few in UK have much feel for the size of an acre or know how many
square feet are in an acre.

Most British people who have anything to do with the land
will know that it is roughly 70 by 70 yards, more accurately
4840 square yards.

A furlong (old English for a furrow long) is 220 yards,
or 1/8th of a mile, so a chain 22 yards long can be used to
measure a cricket pitch length, or even a mile.

As I remember, recall is a stoopid word

"Dan Stephenson" a écrit dans le message de groupe de discussion :
2011112009184680675-stephedanospam@maccom...

On 2011-11-20 04:24:28 -0600, Martin said:


A pint of beer is nearer to a half litre in UK than a half litre of
beer is to a half litre measure in the Netherlands.

As I recall, the "Brussels banning our pints" was a controversy in the
news of one of my UK visits.
--
Dan Stephenson
http://web.mac.com/stepheda
Travel pages for Europe and the U.S.A. (and New Zealand too)

americans are hazards.

"Dan Stephenson" a écrit dans le message de groupe de discussion :
2011112010511665761-stephedanospam@maccom...

On 2011-11-20 09:29:40 -0600, Wolfgang Schwanke said:

Dan Stephenson wrote in
news:2011112009075315062-stephedanospam@maccom:

On 2011-11-20 04:07:09 -0600, Wolfgang Schwanke said:

Didn't the Irish use the variation, punt?

That's just Irish Gaelic for pound.

That's another thing. Who thought it would be a good idea to replace
English for Gaelic, without an English translation?

Hey, I respect the desire to keep a tradition. But to put up traffic
signs that make no correspondence to my map, simply makes me want to
stop in the road and decypher. It is a road hazard to have Gaelic-only
signage.
--
Dan Stephenson
http://web.mac.com/stepheda
Travel pages for Europe and the U.S.A. (and New Zealand too)