Re: Metric Time (was Re: Why not 13 months? (Was La Systeme Metrique))
Robert A. Uhl (ruhl@phoebe.cair.du.edu)
19 Oct 1995 21:08:05 GMT
In article <ACAB4E8A96681EFE29@ehrice.his.com>,
Edward Rice <ehrice@his.com> wrote:
>
>I thought this was a troll, actually, and I'm still not sure. My
>dictionary lists gill and shows that "jill" is in fact the pronunciation
>(all these years, I'd been calling it a Gill, like on a fish). But it
>doesn't list jack as a measure.
The measurements are archaic. In a misguided attempt to change the
system, the govt. decided to remove jigger, jack and jill. And
replace the jigger with the fl. oz. There are eight fl. oz. in a cup.
But the jack was a measurement, just as the pottle was (it's two
quarts). Remember in school when you learned two cups in a pint, two
pints in a quart, four quarts in a gallon and were confused? Chalk it
up to the govt. I use all measures when appropriate.
>How deep is the hook, or do I need a new, old dictionary?
Excellent book: Reading the Numebrs, by Mary Blocksma. She
advocates metric, but does list the old units as well. She regards
the system of doubling as ridiculous, althoug I can hardly see how it
is any worse than multiplying by ten (for which there is no word,
BTW).
--
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| Bob Uhl | Spectre | `En touto nika' + |
| U of D | PGG FR No. 42 | http://mercury.cair.du.edu/~ruhl/ |
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