karohemd: by LJ user gothindulgence (Default)
[personal profile] karohemd
Converting to Metric

I'm just wondering about the "3L = Two Liter Bottle" thing. Am I missing a joke here?

Date: 5/1/09 12:34 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] whiskeylover.livejournal.com
Here's another translation quandary for you ;)

Sagt der Seppl aus Rosenheim.....
"Des Englische is scho a ganz a komische Sprach: I hoast Ei, Ei
hoast Eck, Eck hoast koaner und koaner hoast nobody....."

(as for the 2L bottle- I think the can sizes are wrong too)

Date: 5/1/09 12:44 pm (UTC)
emperor: (Default)
From: [personal profile] emperor
http://forums.xkcd.com/viewtopic.php?f=7&p=1278617#p1278628 suggests that some Americans call both 2l and 3l bottles "2 liter bottles".

Date: 5/1/09 12:47 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] karohemd.livejournal.com
*grins*

Reversely, like my uncle once said, the first English sentence he learnt was "My hand is cold" which has exactly the same meaning and sounds the same in the local dialect.

Also, Nämberch English Spoken (http://www.amazon.de/N%C3%A4mberch-English-Spoken-G%C3%BCnter-St%C3%B6ssel/dp/3897163721/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1231159360&sr=1-1). You really have to read it out loud (and know the Nürnberger dialect) to get it right, though.
Edited Date: 5/1/09 12:48 pm (UTC)

Date: 5/1/09 12:48 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] karohemd.livejournal.com
Ahhhhh. *shakes head*

Date: 5/1/09 01:21 pm (UTC)
ext_8559: Cartoon me  (Default)
From: [identity profile] the-magician.livejournal.com
I assumed it was because so many supermarkets sell soft drinks with "50% extra free" so you buy a 2l bottle and get 3l of soda.

Date: 5/1/09 01:25 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] skorpionuk.livejournal.com
Hahahahah that's funny!
Maybe I should print it out to help my imperial friends :-)

Date: 5/1/09 01:34 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] chriscologne.livejournal.com
I wonder whose penis was used for the 14cm definition? I mean - this could cause all sorts of problems.

Date: 5/1/09 01:48 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] karohemd.livejournal.com
Hehehe. Afraid of being short changed? ;o)

Date: 5/1/09 01:50 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] karohemd.livejournal.com
Possibly!

Date: 5/1/09 02:04 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] ffutures.livejournal.com
I wish someone would draw something like this that I could give to kids at my school. This one unfortunately would land me in trouble.

Date: 5/1/09 02:45 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] ulfilias.livejournal.com
Cans in the UK are typicaly 330ml, however a lot of US cans are larger at 355ml.

Also in the uk shots tend to be 25ml or 35ml, I've never seen 40ml as a shot, but would be quite happy to =;-)

Date: 5/1/09 03:20 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] karohemd.livejournal.com
I think American shots are bigger. German shots are certainly only 25ml.

Date: 5/1/09 04:19 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] eddyfate.livejournal.com
Correct. A "2 liter" has actually drifted into a kind of vague sales area for liquid instead of an actual measure. This has led to at least one bottle in my memory being called "a two-liter that holds 3l."

Leave it to us to fuck up the one bit of metric we have. :P

And this is overall a really cool system! XKCD is awesome, even if I do wish I had this about three weeks ago.

Date: 5/1/09 04:32 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] karohemd.livejournal.com
Ah, so a "2 liter" is a synonym for a family sized bottle rather than a precise measurement. Probably a bit like in Scotland where "a wee dram of whisky" isn't an actual dram, either, just a bit more modern.

Heh. However, most people in the UK still use the Imperial system or will at least understand it and a lot of products are priced/marked in both Imperial and metric.

Somebody should modify this for the UK and include stone, a unit of weight I have no concept for at all. It's 6.35kg, so, for example, equivalent to a 5l keg of beer (incl. the weight of the keg).
That and Fahrenheit because the scale is different but thankfully, the weather report and most recipes are now mostly in Celsius or both.
A pound is roughly half a kilo, a yard is roughly a meter, three foot to the yard, a mile is 1.6km. That's all easily convertible.

A few measurement liberties...

Date: 5/1/09 08:22 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] will-sample.livejournal.com
...but pretty good. Spit, for example, won't actually clunk and freeze mid fall until approximately -44.5 C.

Date: 5/1/09 09:34 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] kyrthira.livejournal.com
The whole THING is a LOL, i think... bahahahahahahahahaha...

Date: 5/1/09 10:31 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] pengshui-master.livejournal.com
Iain (M) Banks, has a good definition of a Dram, in "Raw Spirit" - which is "a measure of whisky pleasurable to both the Giver and the Drinker."

For Stone of the top of my head so there may be some complaints, ugh reason for dissent.

But assuming a height in the order of 1.85m . (I know I'm mixing systems of measurement , but hey.).

8 st very Thin person
10 st Light side of Healthy.
15 st Well Muscled , "Built like a brick built..." or just Fat.
20 st Teenager obese enough for the Mail to write a story about it.
(http://www.expressandstar.com/2007/03/02/20-stone-boys-bullying-torment/)
( http://www.theasiannews.co.uk/entertainment/arts/s/1066033_20_stone_russian_ballet_stars_set_for_extensive_uk_tour )

Date: 5/1/09 11:48 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] susanofstohelit.livejournal.com
take a look at http://www.minnpost.com/alsicherman/2008/12/22/5428/how_cold_is_it_its_so_cold%E2%80%A6#27-5428 towards the bottom for translations of MN temperatures. High of 21f (-6.1c) today - it felt so warm. Yesterday was a high of 1f or -17c. at about -25c you can blow bubbles and they'll freeze. spit would probably freeze near there, but it has to be colder than that for boiling water to freeze as it's poured.

not that we're proud of how we handle the cold here in MN or anything.

Date: 6/1/09 02:02 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] karohemd.livejournal.com
I think the coldest temp I've been in was -20C (which happened quite a few times years ago and is happening now currently in Germany) which was still OK as it was mostly dry. With the added windchill and humidity here in the UK, around freezing feels a lot colder sometimes.

Date: 6/1/09 03:18 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] susanofstohelit.livejournal.com
we hit -25c a couple weeks ago - we get wind that blows down inside the Rockies. but at least it's dry. I agree that damp air feels a lot colder.

Date: 6/1/09 03:19 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] susanofstohelit.livejournal.com
oops. the adjective before wind is supposed to be arctic.

June 2025

M T W T F S S
      1
2345678
9101112131415
16171819202122
23242526272829
30      

Tags

Style Credit

Expand Cut Tags

No cut tags
Page generated 16 Mar 2026 05:23 pm
Powered by Dreamwidth Studios