It’s Maori Language Week, but I’ve talked about that twice (see links), so I’m taking this year off. I start today talking about our weekend, which I don’t do all that often. In the news, the government is changing the alcohol limits for those caught drink-driving. I meander through news and history before moving on to comments, where I meander through news and history—um, yeah.
Be sure to listen to Nigel on The Third Colony Saturday, 9-11pm Eastern (in the Americas) on qnation.fm. Go to their website for how to listen, or to join the chatroom.
Today’s closing music is “Crowing” by Glen Phillips.
Link for this episode
Outcry as drink-drive limit is retained – NZ Herald
AmeriNZ 168 – Assorted miscellany (most recent time I’ve talked about Maori Language Week)
AmeriNZ #28 – Language (I talk a lot about it, but the sound was worse then)
Glen Philips – “Crowing” from the Free Glen Phillips Sampler
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You talkin’ to me?
Probably.
I called NIST and asked: there IS no standardized nomenclature for US measurements. I’m shocked.
The only major difference I remember between US and the old Imperial measure was US quart = 32 oz, Imp. quart = 40 oz. This always seemed to matter in a few ways: 1: milk cartons held 5 cups, 2: a pint of beer was 20 oz. Imperial, vs 16 oz. US, and 3: the price of a gallon of gas was not directly comparable between Canada & the US. The most important thing was: if you were sold a “pint” of beer, did it really have 20 oz., or were you being ripped off? Grocery store signs still specify produce in price per lb. as well as per kg. (the real price), out of tradition. Or maybe because it sounds cheaper.
Canada has been metric now for 40 yrs.
I think the US system was sometimes referred to (in the context of tools, particularly) as the SAE system (Society of Automotive Engineers).
Maupassant
I should have specified – not only did I contact the National Institute of Standards and Technology, I contacted their Weights and Measures Division!
http://ts.nist.gov/WeightsAndMeasures/index.cfm
nada – if they say there’s no term for US measurements, that’s the final word for me.