From: Peter Kirk (peter.r.kirk@ntlworld.com)
Date: Tue Aug 19 2003 - 06:49:24 EDT
On 19/08/2003 02:51, Marco Cimarosti wrote:
>Doug Ewell wrote:
>
>
>>Shouldn't a "pint" of beer be administratively fixed at 500
>>mL, just as a "fifth" of liquor in America is now
>>officially 750 mL? Seems like a good task for an ISO
>>working group.
>>
>>
>
>You could generalize it a bit: Alignment Of Metric And Imperial Units Whose
>Difference Is So Small As To Be Pointless.
>
>
I assure you the beer drinkers of the UK and probably Ireland would
rise in revolt and burn down the European Parliament or some other
convenient scapegoat if you tried to serve them half litres or
Flintstone pints when they were expecting their full measure. 15%
difference, or whatever it is, is not trivial!
>E.g., I never understood why on earth metres and yards should be kept
>different. In a public park somewhere in UK or Ireland I have seen the
>following sign:
>
> TOILETS ------->
> 50 yds (45.72 m)
>
>It must be a reeeeeally urgent need if one cares about those 3.28 metres...
>
>
After a few full pints of Guinness one will even care about the metre
that you left out! :-)
-- Peter Kirk peter@qaya.org (personal) peterkirk@qaya.org (work) http://www.qaya.org/
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