God Bless America!

[Zermelo]

20 minutes ago, johninderby said:

And other units of measurement.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_unusual_units_of_measurement

Some real gems in there (and are they measured in carats?)

The link near the top redirects you to another page of "humorous units", which includes my personal favourite, the "Helen".
I think I saw it mentioned in a copy of the Guinness Book of Records, as it was then titled, edited at the time by the rather eccentric McWhirter brothers. Their curation may have been a little idiosyncratic but I enjoyed their writing style, which remained deadpan even when describing some of their less serious entries.
I just searched for the actual wording online, unsuccessfully, but it went something like:

"Human Beauty
There is no universally agreed unit of female facial pulchritude, but it has been suggested that, if the face of Helen of Troy (circa 1300 B.C.) was sufficiently beautiful to launch a thousand ships, then a suitable candidate might be the milliHelen (mH), being a face capable of launching a single ship."

I don't recall an attribution in GBoR, but the main Wikipedia article for "Helen (unit)" mentions rival claims by Isaac Asimov and a Cambridge mathematician (the latter seems very plausible to me). Nor do I recall any attempt on the part of the GBoR editors to level the playing field by defining an equivalent male unit (the "Adonis", perhaps?); as they say in the trigger warnings these days, "may contain attitudes and language that were prevalent at the time".

Another unserious (and equally un-PC) attempt that I remember seeing was contained in the unofficial journal published (erratically) by the mathematics department of the University of Warwick. It bemoaned the then widespread laxity in the naming of skirt styles - "maxi", "midi", "mini" (I think this must have been an edition from the sixties; no, I'm not that old). The editors proposed the substitution of a more scientific system, using the standard S.I. prefixes - "kiloskirt", "milliskirt", etc., taking the lead from the French (la micro jupe). I think they made it a logarithmic scale, otherwise the range of leg lengths would have been alarming.

 

[Louis D]

Growing up with both systems firmly entrenched here in the States, it doesn't bother me until I'm trying figure out what socket wrench will fit a particular nut or bolt head while working on a car or bike.  Then it can be quite infuriating.  It's typical that both units are used for different fittings based on tradition.  For instance, when changing a battery, the electrical posts are metric (10mm typically) while the hold-down bolt at the bottom is US Customary (USC) (1/2 inch typically).  I just shake my head each time I swap out a battery. 

In day to day parlance, I can't imagine what the SI equivalent would be for considering a person tall.  In the US, you're generally considered tall if you're 6 feet tall or taller.  That would be ~1.83 meters which seems a bit awkward to use in daily speech.  If a basketball player is 7 feet tall or taller, that person is considered extraordinarily tall.  That would be ~2.13 meters.  Again, awkward to use in daily speech.  I suppose you could round down to 2 meters, but now you're only talking about a ~6 foot 7 inch player which is fairly common in both college and pro basketball (and even for many high school teams).  My point is, USC units often align better with day to day, fuzzy measures than do SI units.  Thus, they happily live side by side most of the time.

In engineering, pretty much everything is expressed in SI units except for unwashed masses, customer facing descriptions, like the linear and cargo dimensions of a car.  They're always expressed in inches and cubic feet, respectively.  Liters have come to replace cubic inches for engine displacement, though, over the past 50 years.  That one still perplexes me how it was generally accepted when horsepower continues to be used for engine power. 

[Marvin Jenkins]

Ride on mower head gasket has blown on my Briggs and Stratton 18.5hp Intek engine.

Pulled the head off today to prep for the arrival of the gasket kit only to find the whole engine is Imperial from front to back.

American engine I hear yall cry, but it sold in a Cub Cadet here in France where all the tools are metric. Not only that all the nuts and bolts are metric and one of the exhaust torx bolts needs replacing!

The valve rocker clearances are obviously fractions of an inch but all of our feeler gauges are again metric. Don’t get me started on the new torque wrench I bought for the job, I don’t even want to look.

It got me thinking that it must mean the whole business of motoculture here on the continent must be completely at one with Imperial, and have complete sets of Imperial tools and imported nuts bolts etc. The idea that a French mechanic has ever said “pass me the 9/16ths spanner Jean-Claude” makes me laugh.

Marvin

[Louis D]

22 hours ago, Marvin Jenkins said:

The idea that a French mechanic has ever said “pass me the 9/16ths spanner Jean-Claude” makes me laugh.

Well, to make it fully American, it would be wrench, not spanner.  Spanner has at least one specific usage for spanner wrenches with pins on the ends for rotating round retaining rings with holes in them.  No one in the States ever says spanner by itself, though.  It just sounds incomplete without wrench.  Just like no one here calls flashlights torches.  Torches have actual flames coming out of the end.  I have no idea what Brits call the latter.

[johninderby]

Found this usefull translation for tool names. 😁

 

Wrench: Spanner. The descriptive adjectives used for these are often the same, but we’ve listed some exceptions below.

Box-end wrench: Ring spanner

Flare-nut or tube wrench: Crow’s-foot spanner

Lug wrench: Wheel brace.

Spud bar: Crowbar.

Hex key: Allen key (aka that little tool you always find in self-assembly furniture packs).

Upholstery hammer: Tack hammer.

Boxcutter: Utility knife/Stanley knife.

Miter saw: Mitre saw.

Vise: Vice (I realise no-one will appreciate the difference when you’re speaking with the last two).

Wire wool: Steel wool.

Hand pruners: Secateurs.

String trimmer: Whipper snipper.

Hand truck: Trolley.

 

[JamesF]

57 minutes ago, Louis D said:

Spanner has at least one specific usage for spanner wrenches with pins on the ends for rotating round retaining rings with holes in them.

That sound like what I would call a "pin spanner".

58 minutes ago, Louis D said:

Just like no one here calls flashlights torches.  Torches have actual flames coming out of the end.  I have no idea what Brits call the latter.

"A torch", probably   Without looking anything up in a dictionary, I'd suggest that in British English "a torch" might be any hand-portable source of light, whether flaming, (other) chemical, or electric.

James

[johninderby]

1 hour ago, Louis D said:

Just like no one here calls flashlights torches.  Torches have actual flames coming out of the end.  I have no idea what Brits call the latter.

Nearly every country in the English speaking world uses the term torch and only in the US and Canada is the term flashlight used. The full name for torch in this context is “electric torch”

The term flashlight probably originates from early military devices that could only emit flashes and were used for signaling. 

 

 

. 

Edited November 6, 2021 by johninderby

[JamesF]

Of course in British English, "spanner" does have another meaning along the lines of "idiot".

James

[johninderby]

A wrench in the works just doesn't sound right. 😁

Edited November 6, 2021 by johninderby

[JamesF]

1 minute ago, johninderby said:

A wrench on the works just doesn't sound right. 😁

An idiot in the works certainly does though

James

[Louis D]

1 hour ago, johninderby said:

A wrench in the works just doesn't sound right. 😁

I'm guessing you jest in earnest, but that is exactly the phrase in American English.  A spanner in the works sounds wrong, wrong, wrong.  We may even embellish it as "throw a monkey wrench in the works".  Do y'all ever use the term "monkey spanner"?

[johninderby]

Known as an adjustable wrench here so while thr term wrench is used commonly here it applies only to certain types of tools.

https://www.screwfix.com/c/tools/wrenches/cat4710002?cm_sp=managedredirect-_-handtools-_-wrench

Edited November 6, 2021 by johninderby

[Marvin Jenkins]

6 hours ago, johninderby said:

Found this usefull translation for tool names. 😁

 

Wrench: Spanner. The descriptive adjectives used for these are often the same, but we’ve listed some exceptions below.

Box-end wrench: Ring spanner

Flare-nut or tube wrench: Crow’s-foot spanner

Lug wrench: Wheel brace.

Spud bar: Crowbar.

Hex key: Allen key (aka that little tool you always find in self-assembly furniture packs).

Upholstery hammer: Tack hammer.

Boxcutter: Utility knife/Stanley knife.

Miter saw: Mitre saw.

Vise: Vice (I realise no-one will appreciate the difference when you’re speaking with the last two).

Wire wool: Steel wool.

Hand pruners: Secateurs.

String trimmer: Whipper snipper.

Hand truck: Trolley.

 

String trimmer? Always called a Strimmer as far back as I can remember, but my American friends call it a “Weed wacker”.

Marv

[ollypenrice]

On 04/11/2021 at 17:38, Zermelo said:

"Human Beauty
There is no universally agreed unit of female facial pulchritude, but it has been suggested that, if the face of Helen of Troy (circa 1300 B.C.) was sufficiently beautiful to launch a thousand ships, then a suitable candidate might be the milliHelen (mH), being a face capable of launching a single ship."

The notoriously irascible Fritz Zwicky inspired one of his colleagues to suggest to another that the 'Zwicky' should be adopted as a unit of abrasiveness.  The colleague replied that the maximum useful unit in real-world applications would, therefore, have to be the Micro-Zwicky.

57 minutes ago, Marvin Jenkins said:

String trimmer? Always called a Strimmer as far back as I can remember, but my American friends call it a “Weed wacker”.

Marv

The deliciously English writer Eric Newby mentions seeing a man at work, '...using one of those pieces of motorized string, the name of which I can never remember.'  

I'm host to a Celestron RASA 8 with Celestron's own focus motor fitted.  While most of the instrument has imperial fittings, the focus motor grub screws are metric. In a most un-Newbty-like expression, Go figure! (The focuser has just stopped working, too, but that's another story.)

Living in France, I once asked our local builder's merchants if they might carry imperial allen keys. I should've known better.  The owner stifled a grunt, which became a guffaw and ended in side slapping laughter and tears. The entire staff gathered round to hear what the Englishman had asked for. Soon they and half a dozen customers were variously roaring, slapping their sides and weeping with mirth. When one of them recovered the power of speech he just muttered, 'Mars lander,' and they were off again.  

And they were right! The imperial system is as ridiculous as emperors.

Olly

[johninderby]

1 hour ago, Marvin Jenkins said:

String trimmer? Always called a Strimmer as far back as I can remember, but my American friends call it a “Weed wacker”.

Marv

 

[wimvb]

On 04/11/2021 at 18:15, Louis D said:

That would be ~2.13 meters.  Again, awkward to use in daily speech.  I suppose you could round down to 2 meters, but now you're only talking about a ~6 foot 7 inch player which is fairly common in both college and pro basketball (and even for many high school teams).

Why not say 21 decimeters? It is a fairly round number without any decimals. And it sounds/looks huge.

(Do I need to add an emoticon here?)

Edit:

Of course I do. Here goes.

  

Edited November 6, 2021 by wimvb

[wulfrun]

2 hours ago, johninderby said:

 

I've always assumed that "strimmer" is just a contraction of "string trimmer", even though they use a nylon line rather than actual string.

[Carbon Brush]

@Louis D  Torches have actual flames coming out of the end.  I have no idea what Brits call the latter.

The device with flames is called a blowlamp.

You have reminded of an encounter with US airport security some years ago.
I had persented my belongings for security check. Among them was a small pocket torch (or flashlight).

The security person picked it out of the tray and looked at it, turned it around, looked further, turned it again....
I said 'its a torch' and was ignored.
The turning over, around, and puzzled expression continued.
I repeated 'its a torch' and was still ignored.

So I took the torch from the puzzled persons hand, flicked the switch and demonstrated it.
'Ah flashlight!' was the security response and it was accepted as good to carry.

 

[ollypenrice]

1 hour ago, wulfrun said:

I've always assumed that "strimmer" is just a contraction of "string trimmer", even though they use a nylon line rather than actual string.

I'm sure someone in the steampunk community could come up with a coal-fired version in mahogany and brass with a whirring Royal Navy grade hemp cable to do the business...

Olly

[johninderby]

Now this is a propper trimmer. 😁😁😁

[Macavity]

I've started to call things of that ILK, "Pandemic Shovels"!
Standard fixtures in suburban gardens 'round here? lol. 🤡



The (British!) "Football Pitch" (length/area) is still used...
Hon. Mention to: Albert Hall (Volume measurement)? 🥳
(Link from the days when my world seemed funnier...)

Edited November 6, 2021 by Macavity

[Tiny Clanger]

56 minutes ago, Carbon Brush said:

@Louis D  Torches have actual flames coming out of the end.  I have no idea what Brits call the latter.

The device with flames is called a blowlamp.

You have reminded of an encounter with US airport security some years ago.
I had persented my belongings for security check. Among them was a small pocket torch (or flashlight).

The security person picked it out of the tray and looked at it, turned it around, looked further, turned it again....
I said 'its a torch' and was ignored.
The turning over, around, and puzzled expression continued.
I repeated 'its a torch' and was still ignored.

So I took the torch from the puzzled persons hand, flicked the switch and demonstrated it.
'Ah flashlight!' was the security response and it was accepted as good to carry.

 

What really worries me about your account isn't the 'two countries divided by one language' thing, but that someone in the US employed a security person apparently unfamiliar with the concept of switches ...

[Louis D]

4 hours ago, johninderby said:

 

Since Weed Wacker and Weed Eater are both registered trademarks, retailers have to use the generic term for them on web pages.

Do retailers in the UK list vacuums as Hoovers on their web pages despite that being the most common term for them over there?  Probably not since it's trademarked.

[Louis D]

7 hours ago, Tiny Clanger said:

What really worries me about your account isn't the 'two countries divided by one language' thing, but that someone in the US employed a security person apparently unfamiliar with the concept of switches ...

You have no idea have unintelligent TSA agents can be.  It's what you get when you offer super low pay and terrible working conditions.

Edited November 6, 2021 by Louis D

[Louis D]

4 hours ago, wimvb said:

Why not say 21 decimeters? It is a fairly round number without any decimals. And it sounds/looks huge.

(Do I need to add an emoticon here?)

Edit:

Of course I do. Here goes.

  

Back in the 70s, we were pitched decimeters as the natural replacement for feet.  Apparently, it never caught on anywhere.  I always hear people's height described as centimeters in SI units.