# measures



## valerie

In another part of the forum, we have just talked about 'pieds'/'pies', 'pouces'/'pulgadas', y 'livres'/'libras', mentioning they were old measures and currency in France. Everybody knows Livre/libra /pound is used in the UK. 

Now appeared THE doubt: Are you Brits or American (still  ) using those measures? who of you use miles etc..


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## pollyb

Valerie
About twenty to twenty-five years ago, the US was on a plan to convert to the metric system. It was to be instituted over a period of years. We all said NO! (you can't teach an old dog a new trick)   So the plan was dropped under the premise it would cost too much to change everything, (school books, signs, etc.) So we are still counting the miles on the road; inches on our waistlines!; feet in our height; cups, ounces, quarts, gallons in our food preparation and packaging, and most of all our enormous gallons upon gallons of gasoline consumption!!  
Pollyb


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## dave

In the UK we are now supposed to be metric, but many people (mainly the older generation) still think in Imperial (pounds, ounces, etc.). I think the truth is that most us are equally uncomfortable working in both units!

I'm 5 feet 10 inches tall, weigh 11 stone 10 pounds and live two miles from my workplace, but I like to ski above 2,000 metres, have a car with a 2.0 litre engine (although I fill the tank with 12 gallons of petrol) and try to eat no more than 40 grams of fat per day. Pick the bones out of that!


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## pollyb

Dave
Some people are multi-lingual, you however are multi-numeral!!  

p.s. I love London!


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## valerie

I guess the same is happening with the Euro in the whole Eurozone. I know my monthly income in Euro, but I would negociate my annual income in Pesetas or in Francs. I know how many euros I have to pay for the telephone each month, but I can only compare house prices in pesetas...


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## Focalist

dave said:
			
		

> I fill the tank with 12 gallons of petrol


Do you release the trigger when you get to 54 litres on the pump, dave, or do you try and make it to the full 54.55?

Myself, I always buy £20 worth. That way the price never goes up 

F


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## Artrella

dave said:
			
		

> In the UK we are now supposed to be metric, but many people (mainly the older generation) still think in Imperial (pounds, ounces, etc.). I think the truth is that most us are equally uncomfortable working in both units!
> 
> I'm 5 feet 10 inches tall, weigh 11 stone 10 pounds and live two miles from my workplace, but I like to ski above 2,000 metres, have a car with a 2.0 litre engine (although I fill the tank with 12 gallons of petrol) and try to eat no more than 40 grams of fat per day. *Pick the bones out of that!*






Dave, what does the phrase in bold type mean?  Is it an idiom or what?  I like collecting phrases used by natives(esp from UK)  Art


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## dave

Artrella said:
			
		

> [/B]
> Dave, what does the phrase in bold type mean?  Is it an idiom or what?  I like collecting phrases used by natives(esp from UK)  Art



I thought you might, Art!

It means "_make sense of it_" or "_try to understand the logic of it_".

I think it's always used as an exclamation, and in that form of words (_Pick the bones out of that!_). 

I have no idea of the etymology, nor what _bones _ have to with it. Perhaps it relates to archaelogists finding a random pile of dinosaur bones (for example), something which at first doesn't make sense, but by sorting through the bones they can put them back together and then understand (I'm only guessing here, so don't quote me!).


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## Tormenta

Focalist said:
			
		

> Do you release the trigger when you get to 54 litres on the pump, dave, or do you try and make it to the full 54.55?
> 
> Myself, I always buy £20 worth. *That way the price never goes up *
> 
> F





Awww, that's really sweet  


Tormenta


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## dave

Focalist said:
			
		

> Do you release the trigger when you get to 54 litres on the pump, dave, or do you try and make it to the full 54.55?
> 
> F



F, you shouldn't believe everything your read on t'internet (especially the height/weight stuff!  )


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## ishatar

In France too, the metric system wasn't easily adopted. It took 40 years!



			
				Valery said:
			
		

> I know my monthly income in Euro, but I would negociate my annual income in Pesetas or in Francs.



Tu payes un pot, c'est en Euro.
Mais ce que tu gagnes par an, c'est en Francs.

A movie by Tarantino, I pay it in Euro.
My money in the bank, I still think it's in Franc.


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## Tormenta

I think we should all go metric, and maybe use the kilo system as well  

And how about driving on the "right" side of the road??   

Tormenta


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## David

In Panama, as a result of the Canal having dominated the economy, people use both systems. Food is sold in pounds, ounces, and quarts, generally speaking. Gasoline is sold by the US gallon, smaller than the British gallon. Houses are built in meters and centimeters, but many people still measure in pulgadas, pies and yardas. All beer is called a "pinta," even though a bottle of beer there is much less than the old pint bottle. Legally everything is metric, and land is sold by the meter or hectare, and booze, as in the US, is sold in 750 ml or 1 L bottles. Recipes are in cups, ounces, teaspoons and tablespooons. We don´t find it all that confusing, since each system is used in a different context. I know how much land I have in hectares, but I have no idea what I weigh in kilos and I have never seen a liter of milk, but I know what a liter of Johnny Walker Black costs. The only place I get confused is temperatures. If you tell me is 20 degrees Celsius, I don´t have any idea what that means. I know that 80 F is normal for mid'day, 65 at night on my farm, 90 normal on the coast, but 32 celsius means nothing to me. I actually have to stop and convert in my head when listening to the morning weather report.


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## stelle_cadente

Artrella said:
			
		

> [/B]Dave, what does the phrase in bold type mean?  Is it an idiom or what?  I like collecting phrases used by natives(esp from UK)  Art



Oh wow, I might actually have a stab at this one!

I think it refers to cooking or eating--when you are eating fish and you need to remove the bones, or making a soup with meat and need to remove the bones, you will pick and prod and pick until all of the bones are out...  in the same way, "pick the bones out of that!" means to look at something from every angle, pick it apart and put it back together, or basically "take that and think about it!"  Or maybe, "So there, what do you think now!"

My favorite (from the U.S.) is:  "Put THAT in your pipe and smoke it!"  I think it means approximately the same thing.

Stelle Cadente


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## OlivierG

I'm quite confused with the use of non-metric systems.
I understand it is possible, with a little training, to figure out what a quantity means, but what about the calculations ?
In my profession (computing), I have to deal with numbers in base 16 (hexadecimal), and I can make by head a few simple operations, like addition or subtraction, but when I have to multiply, it is another story.

So when dave says :





			
				dave said:
			
		

> I'm 5 feet 10 inches tall


what is the double of this height ? 11 feets 8 inches?(I remember it is in base 12, is it?)


> weigh 11 stone 10 pounds


If after a diet you lose 11 pounds, your weight will be 10 stones 13 pound, right (base 14)?

How the hell can you deal with such odd measures, while I already sigh for the metric system has not also been applied to hours and minutes (still in base 60) ?


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## tim

In Australia we use the metric system almost universally, except when talking about a person's height, when we use both interchangeably.

e.g. I'm 5'11" or 180 cm tall.

The speed limit is 60 km/h in built up areas, or 110 km/h on the freeways.
Petrol costs around 108 cents a litre, milk comes in one litre cartons or two litre bottles, and I weigh 69 kg.


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## Artrella

Tormenta said:
			
		

> I think we should all go metric, and maybe use the kilo system as well
> 
> And how about driving on the "right" side of the road??
> 
> Tormenta




Tormenta vos sos de las mías! Native of BA!  Please take the metric system, and the centigrade as well.  It's extremely difficult to make comparisons with you people, inches, feet, miles, yards, Farenheit.... Please give us a break!!!
Uf! Art


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## cuchuflete

I'm amused that we seem to want to communicate about weights and measures in a single (metric) language, while this forum is about, among other things, the beautiful nuances and distinctions in the symbols we use to communicate about everything else.

Shall we adopt a common language, so that we may be spared the need to find a decent English equivalent to *cariño* or a Spanish word for  *gutwrenching*?

After I find the metric dimensions and weight, and translate them to inches and pounds and ounces, I think I will buy that Esperanto grammar book.  The price, of course, must be in some not yet extant world currency.

Consistency is the hobgobblin of my small mind this morning.
C.


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## Tormenta

cuchufléte said:
			
		

> I'm amused that we seem to want to communicate about weights and measures in a single (metric) language, while this forum is about, among other things, the beautiful nuances and distinctions in the symbols we use to communicate about everything else.
> 
> *Shall we adopt a common language*, so that we may be spared the need to find a decent English equivalent to *cariño[/] or a Spanish word for  gutwrenching[/]?
> 
> After I find the metric dimensions and weight, and translate them to inches and pounds and ounces, I think I will buy that Esperanto grammar book.  The price, of course, must be in some not yet extant world currency.
> 
> Consistency is the hobgobblin of my small mind this morning.
> C.*


*



Sí, Cuchu, as long as it is Spanish    

Tormenta *


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## Artrella

cuchufléte said:
			
		

> I'm amused that we seem to want to communicate about weights and measures in a single (metric) language, while this forum is about, among other things, the beautiful nuances and distinctions in the symbols we use to communicate about everything else.
> 
> Shall we adopt a common language, so that we may be spared the need to find a decent English equivalent to *cariño[/] or a Spanish word for  gutwrenching[/]?
> 
> After I find the metric dimensions and weight, and translate them to inches and pounds and ounces, I think I will buy that Esperanto grammar book.  The price, of course, must be in some not yet extant world currency.
> 
> Consistency is the hobgobblin of my small mind this morning.
> C.*


*





Dear Cuch, here you have sth to learn esperanto, I also have a beautiful Esperanto Grammar Book, which, if you want I can recommend.
http://www.institutoesperanto.com.ar/_esperantoingles/inicio.htm


"Cariño" would be "love".  In Spanish we have more "loving" words than in English.  Sometimes we say "Cariños" when we end a letter to show affection when we are saying "goodbye" to the addressed person.
When we say "qué terrible!" "me parte el alma" we mean "gutwrenching".
I agree in that it is in the differences  where we build knowledge.  But, admit it, this thing of measures demands a lot of time and effort!!!!! 

Cariños, Art *


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## Silvia

I thought esperanto was a dead language.


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## mvsantander

My uncle speaks Esperanto like a native


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## cuchuflete

Artrella said:
			
		

> Dear Cuch, here you have sth to learn esperanto, I also have a beautiful Esperanto Grammar Book, which, if you want I can recommend.
> http://www.institutoesperanto.com.ar/_esperantoingles/inicio.htm
> 
> 
> "Cariño" would be "love".  In Spanish we have more "loving" words than in English.  Sometimes we say "Cariños" when we end a letter to show affection when we are saying "goodbye" to the addressed person.
> When we say "qué terrible!" "me parte el alma" we mean "gutwrenching".
> I agree in that it is in the differences  where we build knowledge.  But, admit it, this thing of measures demands a lot of time and effort!!!!!
> 
> Cariños, Art


 Good dictionary definitions/translations, but they don't capture the over and undertones.  That's the beauty of having more than one language.  I once saw a very good translation of 'saudade' from Portugues to English.  It was a paragraph long!

These measures are all arbitrary.  The benefit of metric is that it's base 10.  End of topic for me.  I'm going back to cutting firewood.

Cuchu

PS- How do you say a "cord" of wood in Esperanto?


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## Tormenta

cuchufléte said:
			
		

> Good dictionary definitions/translations, but they don't capture the over and undertones.  That's the beauty of having more than one language.  I once saw a very good translation of 'saudade' from Portugues to English.  It was a paragraph long!
> 
> These measures are all arbitrary.  The benefit of metric is that it's base 10.  *End of topic for me.  I'm going back to cutting firewood.*
> 
> Cuchu
> 
> PS- How do you say a "cord" of wood in Esperanto?





Awww Cuchufléte, are you alright? 

Sending you a lot of Cariño  

Tormenta


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## Artrella

mvsantander said:
			
		

> My uncle speaks Esperanto like a native




A native from where?


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## Artrella

cuchufléte said:
			
		

> *End of topic for me.*  I'm going back to cutting firewood.
> 
> Cuchu
> 
> PS- How do you say a "cord" of wood in Esperanto?





*Wow!!! * What's a cord of wood?  Tell me this and then I'll try to find it in Esperanto.

Saluditos cariñositos, Artie


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