Metric and how not to use it.

tlb wrote:A 500ml bottle of water is about a pint.

And a liter is about a quart and a 2 liter bottle is slightly over half a gallon. A km is about 6/10 of a mile. 1 liter of engine displacement equals about .61 cubic inches. A meter is 39 inches instead of the 36 in a yard. Etc....

Welcome to everyday life in America.

Taking all things metric and converting it, usually on the on the fly, into a unit of measure that we actually use and can visualize.

The chain (the string of metal links, not the unit of measure) in football is just to measure the 10 yards required to make a 1st down. I'm sure ropes and sticks were used back in the early days, too, but the use of a chain is the norm.

jtg452 wrote:

tlb wrote:A 500ml bottle of water is about a pint.

And a liter is about a quart and a 2 liter bottle is slightly over half a gallon. A km is about 6/10 of a mile. 1 liter of engine displacement equals about .61 cubic inches. A meter is 39 inches instead of the 36 in a yard. Etc....

Welcome to everyday life in America.

Taking all things metric and converting it, usually on the on the fly, into a unit of measure that we actually use and can visualize.

The chain (the string of metal links, not the unit of measure) in football is just to measure the 10 yards required to make a 1st down. I'm sure ropes and sticks were used back in the early days, too, but the use of a chain is the norm.

The reason a chain is used to measure the distance instead of a rope is the same reason chains are used to secure vehicles on aircraft and railroad flatcars instead of ropes or tie down straps--metal chains will not stretch*, unlike anything made out of fibers.

* If a chain is stressed to the point where it stretches, either the chain was the wrong size for the load placed on it (too small a chain), or else the load was at level where nothing could hold. Sort of like the Honorverse when a ship under acceleration has its inertial compensator suddenly fail.

You know, 500ml of water is damn close to a pint of US beer.

Not that anyone else would care about US beer.

Annachie wrote:You know, 500ml of water is damn close to a pint of US beer.

tlb wrote:A 500ml bottle of water is about a pint.

jtg452 wrote:And a liter is about a quart and a 2 liter bottle is slightly over half a gallon. A km is about 6/10 of a mile. 1 liter of engine displacement equals about .61 cubic inches. A meter is 39 inches instead of the 36 in a yard. Etc....

Welcome to everyday life in America.

Taking all things metric and converting it, usually on the on the fly, into a unit of measure that we actually use and can visualize.

The chain (the string of metal links, not the unit of measure) in football is just to measure the 10 yards required to make a 1st down. I'm sure ropes and sticks were used back in the early days, too, but the use of a chain is the norm.

Vince wrote:The reason a chain is used to measure the distance instead of a rope is the same reason chains are used to secure vehicles on aircraft and railroad flatcars instead of ropes or tie down straps--metal chains will not stretch*, unlike anything made out of fibers.

* If a chain is stressed to the point where it stretches, either the chain was the wrong size for the load placed on it (too small a chain), or else the load was at level where nothing could hold. Sort of like the Honorverse when a ship under acceleration has its inertial compensator suddenly fail.

I think 8 kilometers = 5 miles is more accurate, giving 88 KmPH = 55 MPH

So "Arrive alive, drive 55" might become "Better late than dead, drive 88 instead"; which has a good poetic meter (also called a foot).

You can also get metric measuring chains in 20 or 30 meter lengths. 20 meters is within 5 inches of 22 yards.

Daryl wrote:Not that anyone else would care about US beer.

Annachie wrote:You know, 500ml of water is damn close to a pint of US beer.

Remember that Bud Light is about as much US beer as Foster's is Australian beer...

Ouch.
I didn't like Fosters even when we brewed it.

drothgery wrote:

Annachie wrote:You know, 500ml of water is damn close to a pint of US beer.

Remember that Bud Light is about as much US beer as Foster's is Australian beer...[/quote]

drothgery wrote:Remember that Bud Light is about as much US beer as Foster's is Australian beer...

Doesn't matter who makes it, it is US beer because "Canoe Sex" is what sells in the US.

Weird Harold wrote:

drothgery wrote:Remember that Bud Light is about as much US beer as Foster's is Australian beer...

Doesn't matter who makes it, it is US beer because "Canoe Sex" is what sells in the US.

(Old joke)
A sample of American beer was sent in for testing.
The result: "Your horse has diabetes."

Weird Harold wrote:

drothgery wrote:Remember that Bud Light is about as much US beer as Foster's is Australian beer...

Doesn't matter who makes it, it is US beer because "Canoe Sex" is what sells in the US.

Bill Woods wrote: (Old joke)
A sample of American beer was sent in for testing.
The result: "Your horse has diabetes."

Only the American Quarter horse produces beer. By the, err, quart of course.