Re:Why A4? – The Mathematical Beauty of Paper Size
by bloak on Monday September 05, 2022 @07:31AM
(#32723153)
> Same for wheels, rifle ammunition, …
"But being (as?) this is a .44 Magnum, the most powerful handgun in the world, and would blow your head clean off, you've got to ask yourself one question ..."
(Which totally illustrates your point because it's not really 0.44 inches.)
On the other hand:
"Seven-six-two millimeter. Full metal jacket."
Re:Why A4? – The Mathematical Beauty of Paper Size
by alkonaut on Monday September 05, 2022 @07:50AM
(#32723261)
I doubt 32" jeans are 32 inches either. It's just "a size formerly related to inches, now denoted 32 or 32" but not really inches". I think imperial remains for a lot of these "sizes" which aren't quite the same as "measuring". I call my TV 55 in, but if you were to ask me to measure it, I'd call it something in centimeters.
Re:Why A4? – The Mathematical Beauty of Paper Size
by bloak on Monday September 05, 2022 @08:28AM
(#32723520)
Yes. An extreme example: "Shoe size in the United Kingdom, Ireland, India, Pakistan and South Africa is based on the length of the last used to make the shoes, measured in barleycorns (1⁄3 inch) starting from the smallest size deemed practical, which is called size zero." (Wikipedia)
These are basically “sizes” that are imperial by tradition/accident more than people using them as measurement. If I wear size 32 waist jeans is that imperial? Maybe. I’m not measuring I’m just using it as a known size. Might be inches.
Same for wheels, rifle ammunition, …
I use inches for TVs/monitors and although I’m as metric as they get, I have a 55” TV and my car has 20” rims and so on. Everything has cm, kW instead of horsepower etc listed as well for a TV of course.
As far as I know only a few countries - presumably because of regulation - have switched for absolutely everything. Australia is an example of a country where you can get a 100cm TV.