Re: OT - Metrication

According to the opalescent prose of BrritSki <BrritSki@xxxxxxxxx> :

><languid wave> Amazing how in France you can still by things in pounds
>in the markets, here they have a measure "etti" (sp?) which is 100 gms,
>which is about 1/4 of a lb. Pounds, pints, inches - they're all just
>natural measures...

I do rather wonder about this intervals and "natural measures"
business.

Does it really matter whether we have a new named unit at various
stages? I know what 100 metres looks like, so if somebody says "400
metres" I can imagine 4 100 metre bits laid end to end. I don't need
to worry about "hectameters".

And why is a pound more "natural" than a kilogram, or a pint than a
litre? Surely it's just a matter of familiarity. The French "livre"
is 10% bigger than a british "pound" (avoirdupois) - is it 10% more
natural or less natural? A "natural" unit like the hand is only
defined in inches by convention (the inch was originally the length of
three grains of barley - is that "natural"?). A 10cm hand is as
natural as a 4 inch one, surely? What practical benefit is there in a
unit of area that is defined by reference to a 20 x 1 rectangle?

The idea that the imperial *system* is "natural" just doesn't hold
water, and the ridiculous progressions (how many gallons in a
hogshead?) seem to me to make it much less useful than the infinitely
scalable and internally consistent metric system.

It's good to be disagreeing with Brritters once more - I was getting a
bit worried earlier...

--
Stephen <http://wenlock.blogspot.com/>

Into my heart an air that kills from yon far country blows:
What are those blue remembered hills, what spires, what farms are those?
That is the land of lost content, I see it shining plain,
The happy highways where I went and cannot come again.
.

Relevant Pages

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  • Re: OT - Metrication
    ... pounds in the markets, here they have a measure "etti" which is 100 gms, which is about 1/4 of a lb. Pounds, pints, inches - they're all just natural measures... ... I have absolutely no idea what 100 metres looks like! ... Good heavens, no, Neil. ...
    (uk.media.radio.archers)
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