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The famous, enormous Milk Hill formation:
(It was also formed within a single 4-hour summer night without any witnesses.)
Saturday, December 31, 2011
Feet and metres
Having cappuccino with Judy, 39, and Jade, 11 (well, she had ice-cream instead of the coffee), talk fell upon the technical drawings of crop circles which I have framed on my walls. I mentioned that one of the largest ever was over 900 feet. Young Jade had to have that translated into meters, whereas Jude says she only uses feet, not the metric system. I find that funny. The world does change, but sometimes very slowly.
----
The famous, enormous Milk Hill formation:
(It was also formed within a single 4-hour summer night without any witnesses.)
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The famous, enormous Milk Hill formation:
(It was also formed within a single 4-hour summer night without any witnesses.)
That seems kind of interesting that Judy doesn't use the metric system...living in England. Is she a native Britt? (And...I've never gotten that cleared up: is it one or 2 "t's" when using that term? I've seen it both ways, so...still not sure.)
ReplyDeleteBut...going with the system that you were schooled in seems to be the easiest for most, methinks. I never learned the metric system...only because they didn't start it, in Canada, until I was already out of school; and...if it's not used (metrics, in the States, anyway), I don't find a need to learn it. I understand that it's "easier," than the other but...again...if it doesn't come "naturally" for a person, then...unless necessary...why bother making the effort? :-)
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteJust thought of several examples where you might be able to relate: texting; instant-messaging; Skyping; Facebook; Twitter. Need I say more?! ;-)
ReplyDeleteThis is astoundingly beautiful,
ReplyDeletethis crop circle. Mindblowing.
L.
TC [Girl], it's one t, so we are Brits. Well, not you or our Mr. S. here, but you know what I mean.
ReplyDeleteIn everyday conversation feet and inches are commonly used, at least with those around my age (nigh on 53) or older. Though if Judy went to school in the UK she would have been taught the metric system which became a compulsory part of the curriculum in about 1974.
I used to work on building sites where all dimensions were in millimetres. I often can't easily visualise a dimension when it's in the metric system, but I can if it's in feet and inches.
Laurie said...
ReplyDelete"This is astoundingly beautiful,
this crop circle. Mindblowing."
'tis; isn't it...especially when you try to figure out how those things are done so meticulously! And...why can no one ever seem to catch it being done?! Seems to me that I did see some theory, a little while ago, that I sent Eo...
Roger B. said...
"TC [Girl], it's one t, so we are Brits. Well, not you or our Mr. S. here, but you know what I mean."
"Roger that"...Roger! ;-) (Just thought that would be fun to say; hope you don't mind! :-) Thanks! Ya...Eo and I are both Vikings; I mean Danes! (Aooga! *Snort!*) :-D Same age, too! :-)
"In everyday conversation feet and inches are commonly used, at least with those around my age (nigh on 53) or older."
Well that's just darn interesting 'cuz I thought England had been using metric all along! I know that: 1)the 'Imperial' measuring system is British and...2)that DK is not England (Duh! lol!) but...DK taught the metic system, when my parents were going to school in the 40's and 50's! Seems odd that a country a mere 14-hours' drive away wouldn't have the same system. I guess I just presumed that America was the last to cave! I guess I just hadn't thought of it. Hey! Aren't your road signs in Kilometers?! :-/
"Though if Judy went to school in the UK she would have been taught the metric system which became a compulsory part of the curriculum in about 1974."
Again...odd! I thought the UK was always metric! And...whatever England did, Canada followed with but...what a mess of a time they had with that!
"I used to work on building sites where all dimensions were in millimetres."
...which seems almost ludicrous, when you think of how large most buildings to be built are but...I guess inches doesn't sound much less...better!
"I often can't easily visualise a dimension when it's in the metric system, but I can if it's in feet and inches."
I wish I could visualize either! :-( (uh! Look! Another difference: the use of the "s" vs. the "z"! I had forgotten about that one! Gotta use that "z" for something other than to indicate "sleeping" in cartoons! :-)
Perhaps because I never cared for football (let's see; forgetting what you Brits call that, over there...), I haven't a CLUE how long a football field is! [blush] BUT...I think that it's measured...in meters, yes? I must go do some research. As a fairly newly-citizen-shipped 'American,' I "should" probably know this length! And...then, I'll have to go and stand in one, so that I can, then, SEE what that length looks like, metrically and imperially. :-D
Whoops! Nope! Doesn't make any easier sense of the length of a football field in either metric nor Imperial! Crazy people!
@ TC[Girl]: "Roger that"
ReplyDeleteI don't mind, I have never heard that one used before when someone finds out my name. The last time that happened was when the film Who Framed Roger Rabbit came out! : )
"a mere 14-hours' drive away"
Yes, but we have a moat. : )
In practise we have not generally thought ourselves as part of Europe.
Our road signs are in miles. Building plans do have dimensions such as 17,297mm where once it would have been 56 feet and 9 inches. I'm told it's less confusing than using mm, cm, and metres.
Beer, sweet beer is sold in pints and half pints in pubs, and there would be an uproar if that changed. I don't care for football either but English pitches can be a range of sizes, all measured in yards.
Hey look, I used a 'z'! Maybe I should spell it sises! The English language is about as logical and consistent as our measuring systems We spell it (kilo)metre if it's a distance but (speedo)meter if it's the device that (abroad) measures our speed along it!
"Crazy people"
Yep!
Hey look, I used a 'z'! Maybe I should spell it sises!
ReplyDeleteIt's strange that the English always do that, considering the OED says many of those words should actually use a z.
Roger B. said...
ReplyDelete"@ TC[Girl]: "Roger that"
I don't mind, I have never heard that one used before when someone finds out my name. The last time that happened was when the film Who Framed Roger Rabbit came out! : )
Too funny; I thought it was from 'Airplane' (STILL LMAO @ this clip! LOL!) and...I'm not much into animated movies so I thought, "Surely, ("Shirley," in 'Airplane's' case! lol! :-D I didn't see 'Who Framed Roger Wabbit' BUT...then, I saw Jessica Wabbit and...[hey, I'm no Lezbo!] sed "Who can forget that Wascally Wabbit?!"
But, honestly, I did think that I had gotten it from 'Airplane,' so...thanks for straightening me out on that! :-)
"a mere 14-hours' drive away"
"Yes, but we have a moat. : )
In practise we have not generally thought ourselves as part of Europe."
Yes...I tend to forget that, being on this side of the pond! We just kind of lump y'all together, over there! :-D
"Our road signs are in miles."
Another funny: Canada has Metric! Go figure! :-/
"Building plans do have dimensions such as 17,297mm where once it would have been 56 feet and 9 inches. I'm told it's less confusing than using mm, cm, and metres."
D'ya mean minus the "mm's"? Hmmm? :-D (Oh and...even though you guys don't want to be considered part of Europe, ya went and "borrowed" the French "re" ending on yer "metREs," "centres," "theatres;" "kilometres" and such. SILLY country; gotta have dibs in, EVERYWHERE! ;-)
"Beer, sweet beer"
Really?! It's "sweet?!" Where I come from, it's just bitter yuck that only tastes good on a really HOT day! ;-)
"...is sold in pints and half pints in pubs, and there would be an uproar if that changed."
LOL! Yes...how to remember what to say were it converted! lol! :-P
"I don't care for football either"
Wow! Methinks you're a "rare bird!"
"...but English pitches can be a range of sizes, all measured in yards."
Why, yes...that all makes a HECK of a LOT of sense...especially since that was once a construction site, no?! lol! (Oh BOY! *Slaps her head!*)
"Hey look, I used a 'z'!"
Bravo! We'll get you converted to the "new and improved" version of English, in no time! :-D (Caught you using an "s" in your "practise," rather than a "c," though! Just sayin!' :-D
"Maybe I should spell it sises!"
Add one more of thems "s's" and that's what words being written w/"s's" instead of "z's" are! ;-) "Z's" are STRONG letters...as in 'Zorba!' :-D
"The English language is about as logical and consistent as our measuring systems We spell it (kilo)metre if it's a distance but (speedo)meter if it's the device that (abroad)"
Who you callin' a "broad?!" I resemble that remark! lol! (And, weird; in "resemble," one would think that it earned a "z" for the sound it has!)
"...measures our speed along it!"
Yup! Nuts to your CRAZY Country! ;-) And...the thing w/the "stolen" French spelling! Tsk! Tsk! ;-)
"Crazy people"
Yep!"
Funny: and we say "yup!" and I had never even thought too much about it, when Eo writes it like dat! :-D
Oh...hey. Did I tell you "Happy New Year," yet?! I think I wrote the other to you...last year! :0)
Bob Crachit said...
ReplyDelete"Hey look, I used a 'z'! Maybe I should spell it sises!
It's strange that the English always do that, considering the OED says many of those words should actually use a z."
Yes, Scrooge, I agree! Don't go and get all "humbug" about it, though! ;-) Try to have a HAPPY start to this year, DESPITE this atrocity! :-D (perhaps the "s's" were Britain's "new and improved" version on it! ;-)
I haven't met a day so hot it made me like beer, and I hope I never will! :-)
ReplyDeleteYes, Scrooge, I agree! Don't go and get all "humbug" about it, though! ;-) Try to have a HAPPY start to this year, DESPITE this atrocity! :-D (perhaps the "s's" were Britain's "new and improved" version on it! ;-)
ReplyDeleteIt doesn't bother me, I just said it was strange. Btw, notice above how to quote someone. Much easier to read that way.
Bobby C. said...
ReplyDeleteIt doesn't bother me, I just said it was strange.
You did...and it is. :-)
Btw, notice above how to quote someone. Much easier to read that way.
Like dat?! :-D Yes it is. Thank you very much for the tip; I appreciate it. :-D
Eolake said...
ReplyDeleteI haven't met a day so hot it made me like beer, and I hope I never will! :-)
It's only slightly more pleasant (because it's not sweet) than if someone tries to hand you a soda! The "bite" seems to put a little bit of a quench on a thirst but...they're pretty far and few between for me, anymore; years, in fact!
I have a friend who I would drink them with...only because he seemed to need a drinking buddy, when I came over. One was all I could tolerate and it was even a "lite" version. Went well w/the Vietnamese food he'd cook for me, though! :-P
LOL: captcha: "whincied" :-D
I'd prefer a beer to a soda. I don't particularly like beer but the carbonation in a soda makes me feel sick.
ReplyDeleteIsn't there carbonation in most beers also?
ReplyDeleteI had stomach aches some years ago, and at some point I found out that soda would trigger them.
I'm thankful that condition got better. Homeopathy helped.
TC[Girl], "Roger that" probably is from Airplane. I meant that I got, "Roger Rabbit! hahaha!" when my name was learned, after Who Framed Roger Rabbit came out. It made a change from, "Roger Ramjet/the Dodger/the Lodger" etc.
ReplyDeleteThe beer, sweet beer thing came via a Homer Simpson moment, but I do like proper English bitter. I've grown to like the paler coloured, slightly lighter beers in the summer. It partly accounts for my rounded physique....
As for the English language, I thought that we had lent it to the Americans until they got one of their own. Not long now! : )
Isn't there carbonation in most beers also?
ReplyDeleteOh, yeah, probably. :-)
I guess neither choice is a great one.
Roger B. said...
ReplyDeleteTC[Girl], "Roger that" probably is from Airplane.
I'm going to use that as my excuse to, finally, watch that movie, again! I don't know how many times I've said that I was going to do that! Watching that clip made me remember how little I've cut up, lately! :-/ I'll get back to you on findings! ;-)
I meant that I got, "Roger Rabbit! hahaha!" when my name was learned, after Who Framed Roger Rabbit came out.
Oh boy! Peeps are so nice, aren't they?! :-(
It made a change from, "Roger Ramjet/the Dodger/the Lodger" etc.
Wondering if that's from anything that I don't recognize. Sounds like someone just being silly and rhyming anything they could find off of your name. :-(
The beer, sweet beer thing came via a Homer Simpson moment,
Sorry I didn't catch that. I've [cough] never watched that Simpson show! :-/
but I do like proper English bitter. I've grown to like the paler coloured, slightly lighter beers in the summer. It partly accounts for my rounded physique....
There's a Brit, in town, who runs a corner store and specializes in British beers. He even puts the hoakiest sayings out on his board advertising them! (I try not to roll my eyes @ some of 'em they're that bad! Even thought I should start taking shots of 'em, but...I'm dashing by in my vehicle!)
As for the English language, I thought that we had lent it to the Americans until they got one of their own. Not long now! : )
Oh yeah. Got a point, there! Didn't think about that, neither![blush] Well...America is a "melting pot," as they say, and...I wasn't one of the Pilgrims...thank God! I don't think that I would have faired very well without some of today's "luxuries" like indoor plumbing, electricity, and...toilet paper!! I think the bark and leaf thing would have been a BEEITCH...especially living in poison oak country! LOL! :-/
Sam Westman said...
ReplyDeleteIsn't there carbonation in most beers also?
Oh, yeah, probably. :-)
Funny: I hadn't thought of fermentation and carbonation being the same gas but...apparently it is:
"alcoholic fermentation is the conversion of pyruvate into ethanol and carbon dioxide."
and...
"Carbonation is the phenomenon in which carbon dioxide gas is suspended in liquid, creating small bubbles."
Interesting! Same as our exhale "waste." :-P
So..the thing that probably bothered you, Eo, was the acidity of the carbonation.
(and...in reading re: the PH level that the carbonation becomes, when mixed with water, I'm wondering how much sodas contribute to cancer! :-( Our pH's should be in the 7-7.5 range and...how many fricken sodas do most people drink, a week...let alone a day?! :-(
I guess neither choice is a great one.
Purified water is the best for us but...probably not as "fun!" :-/ Anything without sugar in it is best, as well. :-) Taking away the sugar helps to remove the "beer gut" on men 'cuz that seems to be the place that sugar likes to store itself on men! :-(