Re: when is a billion not a billion

On 9 Oct, 19:20, Michael Press <rub...@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
In article
<1191927628.933277.318...@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>,
Seán O'Leathlóbhair <jwlaw...@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:



On 8 Oct, 19:00, Michael Press <rub...@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
In article <13gfd4o9mfcf...@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>,
"Mike Terry"

<news.dead.person.sto...@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
"Proginoskes" <CCHeck...@xxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:1191649738.902677.63620@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
On Oct 5, 5:15 pm, Marshall <marshall.spi...@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
On Oct 5, 10:07 am, magi...@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx (Arturo Magidin) wrote:

In article <fe5qvh$dg...@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>, don <d...@xxxxxxxxx>
wrote:
Why is the United States 1billion1000 times smaller then the
British 1
billion?

Britain has been in existence far longer than the U.S., so clearly
they've had more accumulated inflation.

The difference between Britain and the U.S.:

Britain: 100 miles is a long way.

Shouldn't that be "kilometers"?

No - we still use miles in Britain! And a recent EU ruling effectively
means they have given up trying to make us give up our Imperial units, so
miles, pounds, gallons etc. should be safe over here for the forseeable
future :-)

Also, when we do talk of metric distances, it is kilometres not
kilometers.

By law it is unlawful to refuse to trade
or deal in metric quantities in the USA.
Is there such a law in Britain?

Much stronger, with just a few exceptions, we must deal only in
metric. We have been changing bit by bit. Petrol (gasoline) changed
to litres quite a lot time ago. More recently, loose food (e.g.
potatoes) must be sold in metric units. This was quite controversial
with one trader being prosecuted for selling bananas by the pound:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/2129528.stm

As Mike says, the EU have relented slightly and we may be able to
maintain a few exception indefinitely. So, we may stick with miles on
the road for a long time and probably you will be able to buy a pint
of beer in a pub for even longer.

The Irish are more cooperative and are changing to kilometres on the
roads.

For the home crowd, when was this law enacted?

Well I don't know and I am quite surprised to hear of this law. Can I
walk into a shop in the US and ask for a kilo of potatoes? What would
be likely to happen?

I do not know. I will ask some tradesmen. Distilled
spirits have been sold in liters and fractions of a
liter for decades now.

Thanks, it would be interesting or I could try myself on my next
visit. I had not noticed that spirits were sold in litres but I
rarely but them here and never when visiting the US. I had noticed
that soft drinks e.g. Coca Cola often comes in metric sizes. I heard
that simplified production by not requiring different sizes for the
local and overseas markets.

In 1893 the pound avoirdupois and the yard were
officially defined in terms of the kilogram and the
metre, not by act of Congress, but by order of the
Superintendent of Weights and Measures,
T.C. Mendenhall, with the approval of the
Secretary of the Treasury.

I was aware of that but, over here at least, it had no noticeable
effect on day to day life.

Kasson Metric Act of 1866.
---
Title 15, U.S. Code, Sections 204-205.
204. It shall be lawful throughout the United States of America
to employ the weights and measures of the metric
system; and no contract or dealing, or pleading in any
court, shall be deemed invalid or liable to objection
because the weights or measures expressed or referred
to therein are weights or measures of the metric
system.


Interesting, this presumably made it easy for Coca Cola to switch to
litre bottles.

A major exception to the metric system here is bodily dimensions. If
you ask someone their height or weight then it will be unlikely that
you will get an answer in metres or kilograms. You probably won't
even get the weight in pounds, you will get it in stones. I can give
my weight and height in metres and kilograms, in fact that is how I
normally think of them, but I have lived in and often visited
countries which are totally metric. Our bathroom scales are set in
metric mode.

--
Seán Ó Leathlóbhair


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