Subject:
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Re: question about the metric system
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.off-topic.geek
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Date:
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Fri, 3 May 2002 20:29:25 GMT
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Viewed:
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2337 times
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In lugnet.off-topic.geek, Christopher Tracey writes:
> Pedro Silva wrote:
> > Well, here's a tough one...
> > In Portugal we use the word "quilometragem" (or "kilometrage", if you
> > prefer), when referring to cars and trains; for ships and aircrafts the use
> > of the Imperial Measures is standard, so the word "Mileage" applies.
> > Some examples:
> > "My car now has a kilometrage of 10000"; "I need a mileage of 10000 to get a
> > free airplane ticket"
>
> Thanks for the info. So in the last example is used in the context of
> frequent flier miles?
Absolutely.
They didn't even bother to translate "Frequent flier", since they assume
most portuguese frequent passengers are familiar with the english language.
And they are not wrong... :-)
(A quick note: noone here actually says "milhagem", or mileage; we *infer*
it in this particular context, nothing else!)
> > Forgive my curiosity, but why did you ask? Would you by chance have suddenly
> > found the advantages of the decimal system, comparing to the Imperial? ;-)
>
> well, as a scientist i'm well informed of the inherent goodness and
> usability of the metric system-- I use it more frequently than the
> imperial system I grew up with. I actually got called anto-american a
> few weeks ago when someone stopped me while i walking down the sidewalk
> and asked me directions somewhere and I said it's about a kilometer down
> the road. ;)
LOL!
I can immagine the face - I've given the same type of instructions to a
British tourist once, and he was pretty disoriented (he was amazed why we
allowed 120 in freeways... :-P)
> Now only if I could convince my Saturn dealer to switch the odometer in
> the car over to metric...
Isn't it just a sticker?
> ps. it is 10 times better as well!
Well,... DOH! ;-)
Pedro
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Message is in Reply To:
 | | Re: question about the metric system
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| (...) Thanks for the info. So in the last example is used in the context of frequent flier miles? (...) well, as a scientist i'm well informed of the inherent goodness and usability of the metric system-- I use it more frequently than the imperial (...) (25 years ago, 3-May-02, to lugnet.off-topic.geek)
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