Warren wrote:
> Sometimes I have to laugh when I see financial re****ts on American tv
> shows. Why do they speak in tenths instead of just moving into the
> 21st century, like they say the market moved 2 tenths...
>
> Why have a quarter of a dollar, or why don't we have a fifth of a
> dollar coin instead of a 20c piece.
>
> And what are these Lbs, I don't seem to have a symbol to represent
> that on my key pad.
>
> And how come there are dollars per pound, isn't it meant to be dollars
> per kilo or pounds per pound or pence per pound...
>
> I was born in 69 so things had already changed by then here, 65 I
> think it was when they said goodbye to the pounds and pence and hello
> to the dollars and cents.
>
> Still waiting for the 10 month year, the 10 hour day/night and the 10
> day week, 10 week month etc...
>
> Anyhow I should go and put a couple of gallons of water on my
> tomatoes...
>
> Have a nice day, happy gardening...
>
> In humor...Warren
Hm. I was born in 1955 and, believe it or not, still think in the
imperial measures I learned at school. In fact, I still use 'two bob'
instead of '20c'!
You can have no conception of what it was like, trying to do sums in
imperial weights and measures *and worse*, doing sums in £, s and d! Not
only that, but we also had guineas and sovereigns to deal with!
Urrrggghhh! Betty and Jim (the proprietors of my primary school maths
book) taught me how many rods, poles or perches there were in a mile.
How many yards in a furlong. How many chains in a cricket pitch (ie
one). How many pennyweight in an ounce. I could go on.
So please don't tell us elder persons to forget or change that which was
learned at *great cost* in our childhoods! Mumblemumble... one thousand
seven hundred and sixty yards, one mile... grumble... sixteen fluid
ounces, one pint... crumble... twenty one ****llings in a guinea... and
that bloody-well baker and his dozen!!! Aaaarrrggghhh!!!!
Oh, and FYI, the change to dismal guernsey (decimal currency) occurred
on the 14th of February, 1966.
I was eleven and all I cared about was that a whole new way of doing
sums was about to be inflicted upon me. There was a cutesy little jingle
and a character called 'Dollar Bill' who sang to the tune of 'Click Go
the Shears'. Serious discussions were held all over the country about
whether one should put one stroke or two through an 'S' to make the
dollar symbol. Another huge discussion went on about whether to call
'the new money' 'dollars' or something else. The word 'Austral' was
touted, but dismissed after a cartoon appeared in the paper showing Mark
Antony in the Forum with a wheelbarrow full of noses and a sandwich
board saying 'Donate to Caesar's funeral fund'. Out of his mouth came a
speech balloon saying 'Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me an austral!'
Finally, I happen to do quilting as my other hobby. I have to inform you
that the whole, entire quilting world thinks in yards and inches. The
effort required to convert between metric and imperial measures when
cutting out tiny strips of fabric is enough to send you *mad*!
Go figger.
--
Trish {|:-} Newcastle, NSW, Australia
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