I used the rare 'privelege' of being able to watch television over the Easter weekend to look at part of 'The Premiership' on Saturday evening.

I watched the game where Manchester United beat Blackburn Rovers by 3 goals to one.

The game was enlivened by a well-taken goal by Paul Scholes after Blackburn had earlier levelled the scores.

He nipped in just ahead of a Blackburn Rovers defender (in the '6-yard box'). The commentator was heard to say:

"And Scholes came from nowhere to nip in just half a yard in front of the defender - no - just a quarter of a yard, that was all it needed...".

I wondered how this would be translated into metric on the continent

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"And Scholes came from nowhere to nip in just half a yard in front of the defender - no - just a quarter of a yard, that was all it needed...".

I wondered how this would be translated into metric on the continent
>>

Possibly

" ... das ist gans keine meter - nein - nur zwanzig centimeter"

(please excuse any errors in my German)

Do you *really* think so?

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Anyway - to those who hate fractions here:

How do you go about saying "quarter to 2" in respect to time? Do you always use the fully qualified 24hr format?

If the sign says that there are 16 miles to your destination (say "km" if you wish!) and you reset your mileometer and then a bit later you see the number "1" on your milometer - don't you naturally think to yourselve "oh, I've done a sixteenth of my journey" or do you "translate" it so that you say the word "percent" at some point?

There's nothing wrong with saying "half a metre".

I do it all the time.

Besides, there is only 43mm difference between "half a metre" and "half a yard". Even Motty would be hard pressed to spot that during a match.

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How do you go about saying "quarter to 2" in respect to time? Do you always use the fully qualified 24hr format?
>>

I haven't got a problem with people using fractions. I use them all the time, e.g. half an hour. For example, even the French say deux heures moins quart (quarter to 2). If people want to say half a metre, half a kilogram, etc, no problem.

Interesting replies, thanks for the honesty (like a breath of fresh air)

There are some on the anti-imperial side that purport that there is no need for "cumbersome" fractions and that it's silly to use them and kids should only use percents or decimal notation.

It appears that the two above are *not* part of that particular team.

I would say 'one forty five'.

Indeed there isn't a great problem with fractions of metres, as long as doesn't become excessive, such as "one sixteenth" and so on.

there are 16 kids
15 are girls
what proportion of the kids are boys.

Please, with no calculator or writing paper....



[scroll down if you're pro-choice....]











(some on the "anti" side will need to think about this for a few moments in order to be able to answer without having to have the dreaded "th" at the end! But then they will realise that a ratio is another way of expressing a fraction!!!)

Answer: (I promise I did it all in my head)

One sixteenth, 0.0625 or 6.25%

Take your pick.

Which is appropriate would depend upon context.

BTW a ratio is a comparison of one quantity in relation to another. It can take any form you like.

For every boy there are fifteen girls. 1 in 16 kids are boys, 6.25% of the kids are boys, 0.0625 of the kids are boys.

What's a mileometer?

Bud wrote

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What's a mileometer?
>>

Answer - an odometer.

In Dutch it is called a "kilometerteller" or literally a "kilometre counter"

Bud,

Try visiting

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/2970815.stm

(A BBC news report about the difference between UK and US English)

SteveH wrote

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there are 16 kids
15 are girls
what proportion of the kids are boys.

Please, with no calculator or writing paper....
>>

Fine if you just want to write your answer down on a piece of paper. If however you want to feed your result into a computer for further processing, you have problems.

Until a few years ago, the UK and US London Financial Exchanges (Stock, Futures, Commodities etc) used fraction in their prices. However, with the advent of increasing computerisation, especially with the big financial houses hooking their computers directly onto the various Exchange's computers, there were all sorts of interface problems. Oned by one the various exchanges agreed to use decimals rather than fractions in their prices and when finally the Chicago Board of Exchange agreed to the change, all the major exchanges had gone decimal.

To Bud: Do you (americans) seriously not refer to the number thing on your speedo as a "mile-ometer"? Blimey!

To all: See how a really really simple question (that could easily be on an early school maths test on fractions in the UK) is blown up into a rather political and cumbersome debate?

The answer, naturally and obviously, would be one sixteenth! Time to get over it now.....

Nope, it's called an odometer. We call the shorter one, which you can reset, a tripometer. The word odometer is from the Greek work odometron for literally, "road measure"

MattS: "Nope, it's called an odometer."

Obviously Americans have banned the word "mileometer" with the inevitable switch to metric at the back of their minds.

Maybe we should do that too ? ;-))))

Maybe the British government intends to call a mileometer a kilometremeter after metrication?

Bud wrote
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Maybe the British government intends to call a mileometer a kilometremeter after metrication?
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Unlike the French language, governments do not make rules about the English language. The langauge develops and organisations such as the Editors of "The Oxford Dictionary" record what people say and what they means by those words rather than dictate what the words should be.

martin:

Indeed. It's a pity that you're trying to stifle that exact process when it comes to the language of measurement.

[round of appluase from the question time audience]

Obviously Americans have banned the word "mileometer" with the inevitable switch to metric at the back of their minds.


It's been called an odometer ever since the invention of the automobile speedometer. Sorry to burst your bubble.

MattS, it was tongue-in-cheek really.

Conrad: Alter your stand-up routine