do you guys help newbies??

[Mikael Olofsson]

On Mon, 2 Dec 2002 15:35:21 GMT
Michael Hudson <mwh at python.net> wrote:
> I was under the impression that Americans referred to their system of
> units as the "British system", despite the fact that noone here in the
> UK uses many of the more esoteric units still in use in the states.
> I've never seen an English source using British Thermal Units,
> certainly.

My boss' favourite story about the UK is from approximately 30 years
ago, when he rented a room somewhere in London. (FYI: He is a Swede,
just like me.) There was a box on the wall in the room, where he had to
enter coins to make the heat run. Being an electrical engineer, he was
curious about this billing system. So, he went to the landlord, and the
following is my interpretation of the conversation that took place:

  - How much energy does one coin give me?
  - A Unit.
  - What unit?
  - Just a Unit!
  - How much is a unit?
  - (???) A Unit.
  - I mean, exacly _what_ unit?
  - That's what it's called: A Unit!
  - But,...

And so it went on for quite some time, and eventually he left the
landlord, not being any more informed than before. After some detective
work, he realized that "a Unit" referred to BTU, yet another unit that
is only used in anglosaxon parts of the world. I guess he concluded that
you cannot trust the British people with any measurements. 

Time to go home!
/Mikael

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