Was forced by circumstances of a family gathering today to enter the portals of a cafe/restaurant called MacDonalds.

In selecting from the narrow range of drinks available, I chose a standard coffee which came in a plastic cup with some strange hieroglyphics on them.

Near the top was this strange writing which went as follows:

----------

0,2L

----------

Can anyone decipher it?

I reckon that whatever liquid it was that I drank, it was just over a third of a pint, anyway

What does "0,2L" mean.

From the context of what Tony wrote, I assume that he was referring to a measure of volume, so I checked what the Intenrational Bureau of Weights adn Measures had to say. In 1979 they passed a resolution by which the litre was the only unit for which two different symbols could be used - "l" and "L". The BIPM plans to revisit this recomendationat siem time in due course, but for the time being either "L" or "l" can be used.

The text fragment "0,2" appears to be causing Tony some confusion as well. I can do no better than to reproduce a resolution from the 2003 [4-yearly] conference of the BIPM:

<<
The 22nd General Conference,

considering that

a principal purpose of the International System of Units (SI) is to enable values of quantities to be expressed in a manner that can be readily understood throughout the world,
the value of a quantity is normally expressed as a number times a unit,
often the number in the expression of the value of a quantity contains multiple digits with an integral part and a decimal part,
in Resolution 7 of the 9th General Conference, 1948, it is stated that "In numbers, the comma (French practice) or the dot (British practice) is used only to separate the integral part of numbers from the decimal part",
following a decision of the International Committee made at its 86th meeting (1997), the International Bureau of Weights and Measures now uses the dot (point on the line) as the decimal marker in all the English language versions of its publications, including the English text of the SI Brochure (the definitive international reference on the SI), with the comma (on the line) remaining the decimal marker in all of its French language publications,
however, some international bodies use the comma on the line as the decimal marker in their English language documents,
furthermore, some international bodies, including some international standards organizations, specify the decimal marker to be the comma on the line in all languages,
the prescription of the comma on the line as the decimal marker is in many languages in conflict with the customary usage of the point on the line as the decimal marker in those languages,
in some languages that are native to more than one country, either the point on the line or the comma on the line is used as the decimal marker depending on the country, while in some countries with more than one native language, either the point on the line or comma on the line is used depending on the language,
declares that the symbol for the decimal marker shall be either the point on the line or the comma on the line,

reaffirms that "Numbers may be divided in groups of three in order to facilitate reading; neither dots nor commas are ever inserted in the spaces between groups", as stated in Resolution 7 of the 9th CGPM, 1948.
>>

This suggests to me that MacDonalds might have run short of containers that were made for the UK market and had to import some from the Continent as a stop-gap measure.

However, given the above facts, I am sure that Tony will be able to recognise that "0,2L" is identical to "200 ml".

Tony,

Regarding your question of January 3rd @ 3.59 p.m.

"I had a coffee which came in a plastic cup, and 0.2 L was marked near the top lip. Can anyone decipher it?"

Tony, 0.2 L is 5 mil, or 0.005''

1. This measurement is only used in the button trade, and the smallest I have ever seen is 10 L, but then I know nothing about Barbie dolls, or the doll making trade. But 0.2 L seems pretty small, even for a doll.

2. I cannot explain what a button trade measurement is doing in the catering trade, and what 0.2 L has got to do with a plastic cup is a mystery.

3. Most fl. cups are containers about 2.50'' wide by 3.42'' high. Remember that many medium & small fluid measures are built oversize, so that when the container is struck off, it will be an exact dry measure, and when filled up to the mark on the lip, it will be an exact fluid measure. So although there is supposed to be no dry measure below the dry pt., most small flat topped drinking vessels are built to dry measure dimensions. If your container is 2.50'' wide by 3.42'' high, then it can bed used to measure 1 dry cup, if you ever wish to have such a measure. If the container has a mark 0.49'' below the lip, then you can pour coffee into the container up to the mark, making 1 fl. cup of 2.50'' wide by 2.93'' high.

4. Tony, I don't want to doubt your eyesight, but does your 1 fl. cup say 0.2 L, or does it say 20 L? Because 20 L is about 0.49''.

More info @

http://www.weights-and-measures.com

And topic:

Common Fluid Measure & Common Dry Measure

P.S.
Tony,
Maybe it's supposed to be a joke. The button trade measurement of 20 L near the lip of a fl. cup, for:
"BUTTON YOUR LIP"

Martin,

I would like to offer you my congratulations on coming up with such full and expert an analysis on something as humble as the writing on a McDonalds paper coffee cup.

I was of course aware I was drinking about 35% of a pint, but didn't expect anyone to shed such a searching beam of light on the subject so soon!

Thank you

Thank you Tony.

May I express my sympathies for the ordeal that you had being forced to visit MacDonalds.

Whilst drinking in my local pub I noticed, while holding my glass up to my face, that there was a crown sign and the word "1 Pint" beneath it.

I checked the same source as martin did but could find no meaning. This left me confused, so I drank a few more of these glasses then told some bloke that he was my "very best friend" soon after having a loud argument with him.

Hee Hee! I'm not really as dumb as I appear. I really knew that the "0,2 l" that appeared on the cup meant 0.2 L (zero point two litres) or 200 mL. I just wanted to make a fool of myself by pretending not to know what it meant.

What really Gaulled me was that a cup used in a British establishment would have the audacity to display an amount in Satan inspired metric units and not our sacred and holy imperial units.

Not only did it appear as a metric amount, it used that demon Europe comma instead of our traditional decinmal point. In addition to the two criminal acts I just mentioned, it spaced the "l" away from the number instead of crunching it right up to it, as we British do. I know it is wrong according to SI to put the unit symbol right up to the nuimer, but I like to break as many SI rules as I can.

Do I get some type of reward for this? I really think I deserve one. Please someone, give me an award!

0.2 L = 5 mil = 0.005'' January 3 2004, 9:01 PM


Folks,

I'm sorry I spoiled your day with my nutty talk about buttons. You see, I have only buttons for brains. In my 1826 world, we didn't have modern conveniences like zippers. We buttoned everything.

I did realise that the measurement was part of the metric system and refered to litres. But I just wanted everyone to know that in my button world we used the "L" for button sizes. It is somewhat silly on my part to talk about buttons now, but I just wanted all of you to come visit my website and get a load of some real far out units and their definitions.

And if anyone is interested, I do have standards to back up all of my units you see on my websites. No referancing them to those metrical units. I keep my standards in the safest place on my farm: in the outhouse. No one would dare try to steal them where I put them.

So folks, come on down and visit my website:

www.xkook.com and see how measurements once were in the good ol' days.

Hi,

I was visiting your illustrious website and I was looking at the last two posts on this thread.

It looked to me that someone who is somewhat challenged in this area was trying to be funny - and had almost succeeded.

I'm the Prof. at the Faculty of Humour, University of Thamesmead.

I think you might be interested in one of our courses so that you could actually learn to inject some real humour into your postings. You can find out more on our website:

www.howtobefunny.com

Hi,

I was visiting your illustrious website and I was looking at the last two posts on this thread.
It looked to me that someone who is very wiity has succeeded in being very funny.

I'm the Prof. at the Faculty of Humour, University of Thamesmead.

If there is any one there who would like to be funny too, you might be interested in one of our courses so that you could actually learn to inject some real humour into your postings. You can find out more on our website:

www.howtobefunnywithouthavingafacelikesteve.com

Indeed, rather than being in Cardiff with "friends" (look it up euric!) on Sunday I decided to post here.

Looks like you've been real busy though euric!

P.S. You might also want to look up "social life".

LOL

Oh, and do leave the "real" humour to those who actually possess a sense of it - there's a good chap!

Re: 0,2L January 31 2004, 5:26 PM

Hee Hee! I'm not really as dumb as I appear. I really knew that the "0,2 l" that appeared on the cup meant 0.2 L (zero point two litres) or 200 mL. I just wanted to make a fool of myself by pretending not to know what it meant.

What really Gaulled me was that a cup used in a British establishment would have the audacity to display an amount in Satan inspired metric units and not our sacred and holy imperial units.

Not only did it appear as a metric amount, it used that demon Europe comma instead of our traditional decinmal point. In addition to the two criminal acts I just mentioned, it spaced the "l" away from the number instead of crunching it right up to it, as we British do. I know it is wrong according to SI to put the unit symbol right up to the nuimer, but I like to break as many SI rules as I can.

Do I get some type of reward for this? I really think I deserve one. Please someone, give me an award!

With so many criminal acts perpetrated in good old Blighty, you must feel like living in a penal colony.

So that's just "metre" (eric) and "Euric" doing the fake posts now then?

Just those two eh?

Why hasn't anyone else resorted to false posts?
MAkes you think doesn't it?

I actually suspect that you have flase posted Steve.

I haven't.

Show me if I have.

If its way back in time then you may embarrass me!