Re: measuring systems (was: Selenites)

Tom Wier wrote:

>But here's a question:  if the US were to make a change over to the metric
>system, but kept its present units in remetricized forms, would you find
>that acceptable?  What I mean for example is we use meters, kilometers,
>and so forth, but change the present value of mile to some useful multiple
>of the kilometer (like 1 mile = 2km, rather 1.6 km as now), and do this with
>other present units (1 inch would change from 2.54 cm to 2.5 or 2 cm, etc.).
>What do you think? Would that still be confusing to you?
No more than it would be for you :)
No, in fact it would make the conversions a bit easier; but I don't think that
would be convenient. Everything written in the old system would create confusion.
You'd have to indicate whether you're talking of the old miles or the new ones.

If the effort were going that far, it could go a little farther and switch
to the metric system completely -- at least in all but informal occasions.

Speaking of the subject, I've been devising a measuring system for my Draselhadh
people. There are a few irregular ones... but the good thing about this conculture
invention is that you can easily have a king or emperor with enough authority to
regularize a system just because he wants to :)

More or less as you proposed here, Qlonenqgron Ratan-Velqam (the Great Lord,
Exalted Velqam) took a bunch of common measures with imprecise limits and
cut them down to size in order to acommodate them into a decimal system. The
base was a measure of about 92.3 cm, a yard you could say, or three feet, called
_velvith_ (meaning precisely "between-steps"). Then you have a _guet_, or one
thousand _velvith_. And finally a _meththoldor_, a "day's run", equal to one
hundred _guet_.

The Lord's decree also included some weight and capacity measures. The weight
measures are sometimes of a humble origin (the common measure for fruit and
vegetables in market was originally the weight of a medium apple, and that of
a (kinda) nut was for gold and silver).

BTW, what's the origin of the English names of measures ("yard", "pound",
"gallon", "inch")? Does "mile" have something to do with the Latin root
for Spanish _mil_ "one thousand"?


--Pablo Flores

_______________________________________________________________________
: Gendin edhmiathar, gen-drasin sian terrpas
: Lip san qumbuar itthundnel fratenkalader

" Through the sorrow, all through our splendour "
" Don't take offence at my innuendo             "
                                       (Queen)

<http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Shire/1021/draseleq.html>

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