Re: Weekly Vocab #2.1.8 (repost #1)

Henrik Theiling skrev:
 > Hi!
 >
 > Joseph Fatula writes:
 >> ... All kidding about transoceanic differences aside, how
 >> are metric units used in the languages of metric
 >> countries? Specifically, are idioms using units of
 >> measure translated to the new system? In English we say
 >> things like "an ounce of prevention is a pound of cure",
 >> or "crawling along inch by inch", or "I don't trust him
 >> an inch", things like that. ...
 >
:> Interesting question.  I remember that Dutch reassigned
the old units
:> to the metric system, which I found quite elegant:
:>    1 ons  = 100g
:>    1 pond = 500g
:>
:> Then I noticed that German does, too, with some measures:
:>    1 Pfund   = 500g
:>    1 Zentner = 50kg

Swedish has reassigned _mil_ to 10 km, but that's the
only example. We also use the non-SI _ett hekto_ for
100 g. That's the unit you use at the delicatessen
counter, notably.

As for idioms the old _att inte vika en tum_ "not to
yield/step back an inch" is now sometimes heard with
_centimeter_ or _millimeter_. Rather a stronger statement
than the old one, although formerly _en hårsmån_ "the
breadth of a hair" could be used too in this idiom.

Admittedly many idioms which use specific measure units in
English never did so in Swedish. For example "inch by inch"
is _bit för bit_ 'piece by piece' in Swedish.
--
/BP 8^)>
--
Benct Philip Jonsson -- melroch at melroch dot se

    "Maybe" is a strange word.  When mum or dad says it
    it means "yes", but when my big brothers say it it
    means "no"!

                            (Philip Jonsson jr, age 7)