Use Metric system only in discussions

ClubMan said:
Sorry - I assumed "precise" and "accurate" were, for all intents and purposes, synonymous.
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Yes, I would agree - but it is neither "precise" nor "accurate" to infer that I suggested 4mm, as a measurement, 'is more accurate' than 0.4cm.

Anyway, hopefully Carpenter can advise on the mm/cm thing?
 
I think in metric most of the time and also use Meters and millimetres (not centimetres) but I have no problem using both.
My background is in manufacturing engineering and many drawings were in metric and imperial with many of the imperial drawings using fractions (which I hated).
 
I was taught in the metric system but after a few years dealing with both methods I now mainly use the imperial system because it's far easier to use.

Whiskey said:
As for length, maybe it's ok to say you are 6ft tall, but better to say you are 182cm (or is it 183cm !)
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Neither its 0.0018288km, 1.8288m, 182.88cm or 1828.8mm

or to use another method 41.1891892 u

or you can just say 6 feet.
 
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On a related note...

A colleague of mine mentioned that she had a python which was "four foot long"

Another asked her in all seriousness, "What is that in feet?".

Which is correct? Is "four foot long" an Irish expression?
 
Brendan said:
Is "four foot long" an Irish expression?
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It really would depend on whether you are comparing it to something 1219.2mm precisely.

If it isn't exact then it's around 4 foot, Irish or otherwise.
 
S.L.F said:
It really would depend on whether you are comparing it to something 1219.2mm precisely.

If it isn't exact then it's around 4 foot, Irish or otherwise.
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I think the question is more should it be "four foot long" or "four feet long".
 
I think in imperial for just about everything except MS Word.

Whiskey said:
Metric has been the only system taught in schools for the past 40 years.
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I had a carpenter around recently doing some work in the house, drew up everything in metric for him to make it easier. The first thing he said was "what's that in inches?". And I doubt he's 40 years old yet!
 
Brendan said:
Which is correct? Is "four foot long" an Irish expression?
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I don't think "four foot long" is an Irish expression.
A lot of people in the english speaking world use foot as the plural of foot.

There is a website called Four Foot Snake
www.fourfootsnake.org.uk (however it's under construction)


And look at the Satchi gallery in London, there is a six by four foot painting
[broken link removed]



http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/grammar/learnit/learnitv312.shtml
The BBC page above says the following

"Six foot (or six feet) three (inches) would describe a fairly tall man. Note that we would normally say six foot despite the plural reference, although six feet is also possible."
 
It's simple; when it's an adjectival phrase describing something else, it's a six by four foot painting, a ten foot bargepole, a 12 inch ruler, a five mile run, etc. You wouldn't use the plural in any of these expressions.

When it's a measurement, followed for example by the adjective 'long' or 'tall', then it's ten feet long, four feet wide, six inches in diameter, five miles away, etc.
 
ClubMan said:
4mils? 4ml? I presume you mean 4mm? Anyway how is 4mm any more accurate than 0.4cm?

Doesn't make much sense to me.
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i work in engineering and what the poster is saying makes perfect sense... i could never understand the need for centimetres. measurements in centimetres are usually reserved for sales staff in furniture shops, its the only place i have ever come accross the use of the centimetre when measuring...........
 
Here I must come to the defence of the centimetre.

The [broken link removed] system of units has the best names.

Ergs, emus, dynes, calorie, stokes.
 
Dr M

Thanks for that. I can follow that rule. But why? Is that a formal rule of grammar? You use the singular in an adjectival phrase? Are there other examples not using measurement?

Brendan
 
I can't quote you the exact rule, Brendan (if there is one?) — but I guess it's the same principle that would make us say 'a three-bedroom (adj.) apartment' to describe an apartment with three bedrooms (n.), a twenty euro note, a ten-page booklet, etc.

Which leads me neatly to the equally fascinating area of hyphenation...
Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
 
I'm just worried that metrification will kill off some traditional sayings.
"Give them 2.54 centimetres and they'll take 1.609344 kilometres" just doesn't quite have the same ring about it.
 
I think we have stumbled on the one advantage of Imperial over metric.

Nearly all the measurements are one syllable only. Pound, Ounce, Stone, Inch, Pint, Quart, Gill, Mile, Roud, Foot, Yard.
A few have two syllables like acre, gallon, furlong.

And of course some of the well known expressions which have been with us since Shakespeare may die out, like a pound of flesh.


As for metric, the base units have 2 syllables like metre, but mm, ml, km, cl etc all have 4 syllables, easier to write than to say.
 
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