Us Brits have a tendency to slag off the way Americans use the language. (I don’t feel guilty about this – the American media is always getting at us. Have you seen the episode of the Simpsons where they come to the UK? For that matter, you can guarantee practically any British person in a US movie will be the baddy and/or stiff and up-tight.)
However, I have to confess there is one aspect of American usage that I just love – referring to measures of liquid in ounces. I don’t know why, but when someone refers to a “20 ounce cup of soda” or whatever, it’s just wonderful.
So now that’s two aspects of US culture I love – anything Joss Whedon does, and ounces of drink.
If Joss Whedon means nothing to you, he is the man behind Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel and best of all Firefly. Incidentally, has anyone in the US seen Dollhouse yet? I gather this is his latest outing on the small screen.
Distance is what gets me. I will never understand what a mile is, or why it is made up of a seemingly random number of feet. There is constant talk of the US switching to the metric system, but it never seems to lead anywhere. Metric system makes so much more sense and is so much simpler. I don’t understand how the US stuck with the weird Imperial system for so long.
Why do you like ounces, specifically? I am partial to pints myself. Self-explanatory.
There was a Calvin and Hobbes strip about pecks where Calvin is trying to do a story sum and Hobbes confuses him by telling him that a peck is a small kiss.
That pleased me.
My favourite thing in Canada is that they often use the same shape and size bottles as the US for certain things, but uses the metric system, so that you end up with seemingly random volumes. You can buy orange juice in packs of 1.89 liter, because that’s exactly half a gallon. I feel like there’s 0.11 liter missing!
Eva, one of my favourite things is the French translations on all the packaging. My French isn’t good enough to be completely sure, but some of it looks pretty dodgy to me!
Brian, as far aas I know Dollhouse hasn’t been shown on the telly yet. It’s “in production” and due later this fall on FOX… accoring to the “world of fans of JW” :)
I must admit that ounces thoroughly confuse me. Not only that there are several different ones, it’s not even close to being even numbers when you translate it into metric.
regarding the first thing however, I am more or less in agreeance. THe man knows who to do things.
Pints: the American pint is only 16 fl oz, which is why you see a lot of ‘20 oz’ things.
Miles are great. Such a lovely unit. Inches, feet, yards — all very homely, and based on the average carpenter’s body size. A mile is easy – it’s how far you can walk in 1/4 an hour. A nautical mile is one minute of arc around the Equator. I mean, it’s brilliant.
A pound is {this} much. It’s all so much friendlier than the bloody French.
Anna – miles were, I believe, ‘mille passum’ in latin – a thousand paces – feet, as Richard says are also people-based measures, but not related to miles hence the odd number. In Star Trek world, the metric system is Mr Spock and the old measures are Dr McCoy.
I don’t have a logical reason for liking drinks measured in ounces, I just find in strangely beautiful. It genuinely uplifts me every time I hear it.
You say the metric system makes more sense – it does in a way, though of course the old liquid measures were binary, so in some senses more advanced than metric.
Joss’ latest is Dr Horrible’s singalong blog featuring Doogie Howser MD and the Serenity captain and that woman that was in a later series of Buffy.
He sings about changing the world (for good) through science. You should like it.
Here’s what I can’t understand: why do people pronounce kilaaahmuhters and micraaahmuhters like that? Can we not say KILOmeters and MICROmeters? What’s up with that? It’s like I’ve been hearing a lot of people saying juhNOME lately instead of GENE-ome. What’s up with that?
Why do people always say ‘What’s up with that?’
What’s up with that?
junNOME is caused by New Zelanders taking over the world. Learn to live with it. It’s the future speaking.
Oh …the shame. I can’t spell my own country.
Then again it is sort of phonetically correct these days…
I thought ‘Nu Zillund’ was closer to the mark?
(By the way, I know why American is short on ‘u’s… )
While at school, a friend of mine came up with the appropriate unit of speed to use, were one to find oneself in the position of having to commentate on a snail race – furlongs per fortnight.
Scott – yes I was vaguely aware of Dr Horrible, but thanks for reminding. It appears to be a rather smaller scale venture.
Henry – ah, the joys of rods, poles or perches! But I think the think that really gets me about a 20oz cup of soda is the cognitive dissonance – so I would be even more impressed with a snail race measured in ounces per electron volt (say).
rods, poles or perches
I read that and my first thought was ‘fishing!’
I’m going to have to hand my passport back, aren’t I?
What’s up with that?
Betsy – not quite sure if you are querying the fishing connection or the units or what?
In case you don’t know a rod, pole or perch is, of course, a unit of length amounting to five and a half yards. There are four rods in a chain, 10 chains in a furlong and eight furlongs in a mile. What else?
Heh. I just felt like inserting a random “What’s up with that?” Americans can be kind of kooky like that. On the other hand, I didn’t know what sort of measurement a perch was. You learn something new every day.