Re: [NTLK] [OT] Kilometers

From: Helvécio Mafra (helvecio.mafra_at_newted.org)
Date: Mon May 03 2004 - 16:25:09 PDT


On segunda-feira, mai 3, 2004, at 18:24 Brazil/East, Nicolas Krizan
wrote:

> Sweden is often considered an ardent follower of international
> standards
> such as the metric system. Nevertheless, inches is still quite widely
> used in »old« areas such as bicycle sizes and construction material
> dimensions as well as »new« topics like screen sizes.
>
> I can see the beauty and humanism of using a measurement system
> deriving
> from our own bodies but the clear sharp logic of the metric system is
> quite nice too.
>
> kind regards/nicolas
>
> PS. In swedish, the word for inch literally means »thumb«. What is the
> etymology of the word »inch«?

In Brazil almost everything is metric, but there are some measurements
tat are always done in imperial, the same way as in Sweden (even the
type of measurements: pipe diameter, nuts and bolts, bicycle sizes,
etc).

And also in Portuguese, the language spoken in Brazil (even though lots
of people think of Spanish), the word for inch literally means "thumb".

Cheers,
Helvécio

-- 
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Helvécio Mafra                            Eng. Florestal, MSc. em GIS
Brasília - DF                                                  BRASIL
mailto:hsamafra_at_fastmail.fm                mailto:mafra_at_sagres.com.br
ICQ: 34651651
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