48 replies to this topic

[ᗅᗺᗷᗅ]

Heh. Well, that's just Boston. We don't all talk like that. You've heard me talk plenty, and I don't sound like that. Once you get north of Boston the accent changes. The farther north you get the more like the traditional "ayuh" Maine accent you get, although even that is fading away.

[Haflinger]

Fourths is Prairie talk, I think. I've never heard it. Eastern Canadians always say quarter. I don't remember hearing fourths when I was living in BC either, but that was only for about three months so maybe they say fourths out there.

[Shokkou]

Heh. Well, that's just Boston.

No, this is Boston:

[*Anastasia]

Fourths is Prairie talk, I think. I've never heard it. Eastern Canadians always say quarter. I don't remember hearing fourths when I was living in BC either, but that was only for about three months so maybe they say fourths out there.

In common parlance, no one says fourths. It's just a stupid thing they try to instill in us to say in school for some reason. Which is why I compared it to the Metric system—no one here uses the Metric system in their day-to-day life, but by God, we'd better not teach our kids what any of the actual measurements people use mean.

[Redezra]

I do! I use the metric system all the time, and I get slightly confused when people use imperial.

[Haflinger]

Fourths is Prairie talk, I think. I've never heard it. Eastern Canadians always say quarter. I don't remember hearing fourths when I was living in BC either, but that was only for about three months so maybe they say fourths out there.

In common parlance, no one says fourths. It's just a stupid thing they try to instill in us to say in school for some reason. Which is why I compared it to the Metric system—no one here uses the Metric system in their day-to-day life, but by God, we'd better not teach our kids what any of the actual measurements people use mean.

Well, I didn't get taught fourths in school in Nova Scotia either. Metric on the other hand...

I use Celsius, not Fahrenheit. Fahrenheit confuses me.

Milk and juice are sold by the litre, not the gallon.

I buy pasta, sugar and flour by the kilo.

Road distances are measured in kilometres.

However I buy vegetables by the pound. Potatoes for example I buy in ten-pound bags.

Also my height is in feet and inches and my weight is in pounds. Therefore I am a vegetable, not flour.

[*Anastasia]

Well, by 'here' I specifically meant my corner of Alberta. I can't really speak for usage elsewhere.

People tend to be split on temperature, some using centigrade, some Fahrenheit. I use the latter because I find it more useful, and everyone uses Fahrenheit for cooking, because that's all ovens come programmed with. I believe I've mentioned it before, but it always confuses me when an Australian chef whose programs I watch gives oven temperature in centigrade. Other cooking measurements here tend to be in cups, tablespoons, and so forth, which also befuddles me when I try to fallow the man's recipes.

Milk is sold by the liter, true, but it's not uncommon for people to refer to 4L of milk as a 'gallon jug,' splitting the difference between the slightly larger imperial gallon and the slightly smaller US gallon. Stuff like pop, I will grant, tends to be referred to in liters regardless—but I'm pretty sure that's common even stateside. Not really sure on juice; I know it's sold in Metric measurements, but I can't think of a time I've felt the need to actually express the size of a container of juice to someone, or vice versa, to determine how people would refer to it.

Pasta, sugar, and flour? Nah, imperial measurements, please, just as with produce.

Road distances and speeds are, of course, mandated to be in kilometers—but it's more common to hear to people refer to distances and speeds in miles regardless, and many people's vehicles are either old enough to only include imperial measurements, or else are dual-labeled in both Metric and imperial.

And, just as with you, height and mass are entirely in Imperial measurements. Use of stone measurements for human mass is rare, but not unheard of.

[Haflinger]

Heh, you guys say stone still? Nobody says that down east anymore. The English still say it though.

 

Do you actually have 4L jugs of milk? Out here, jugs of milk are always 2L. You have to buy bags to get 4L at a go, and then of course it's 4 bags.

 

Yeah, fahrenheit for cooking, that's right.

 

Pasta comes in 900g bags mostly. Flour is 2.5kg, 5kg or 10kg bags. I forget what sugar comes in, because I mostly buy it at the bulk barn now, but I remember it being grams too.

[*Anastasia]

Milk comes in 1L and 2L cartons, and 4L jugs. We don't have the bagged milk for which you give Canadians a bad name.

Bags aside, though, Americans will never understand the love we Canadians have for our milk.

[Haflinger]

Homo milk is only slightly funny though, homo bags are The Next Level.

[ᗅᗺᗷᗅ]

Metric measurements make more sense, but because like most Americans I grew up with the traditional imperial measures, I have a very hard time envisioning metric measures. So, for example, if a speed is given as, say, 72 kph, I would have to convert it to mph in order for it to have any real meaning (it's about 45 mph).

[Haflinger]

That's true for everything, and is why measurement system changes are enforced through schools. It's why I find Fahrenheit temperatures confusing for everything but baking.

[*Anastasia]

That's true for everything, and is why measurement system changes are enforced through schools. It's why I find Fahrenheit temperatures confusing for everything but baking.

Problem is, when kids grow up around parents who predominantly use imperial measurements, it's the Metric units they end up finding confusing. Schools should at least teach both systems, as I understand they're now doing in Ontario, so there's a frame of reference for those who aren't used to Metric.

Really, though, I don't find Metric units to make a whole deal of sense. In theory? Sure. In practice? Imperial's just more useful.

[ᗅᗺᗷᗅ]

Schools do teach both systems. But it's like taking a foreign language in school — unless you use it every day, most people lose the skill.

[ᗅᗺᗷᗅ]

Milk comes in 1L and 2L cartons, and 4L jugs. We don't have the bagged milk for which you give Canadians a bad name.

Bags aside, though, Americans will never understand the love we Canadians have for our milk.

 

I need someone to send me a carton of Homo Milk. It can be empty, I just want the carton.

[Haflinger]

Sorry man, I only drink 1%.

[*Anastasia]

Schools do teach both systems. But it's like taking a foreign language in school — unless you use it every day, most people lose the skill.

Not here they don't.

Milk comes in 1L and 2L cartons, and 4L jugs. We don't have the bagged milk for which you give Canadians a bad name.

Bags aside, though, Americans will never understand the love we Canadians have for our milk.

 
I need someone to send me a carton of Homo Milk. It can be empty, I just want the carton.
 

I don't normally drink milk, but the next time I need some for baking, I'll keep you in mind.

[slimshadyinc]

Hmmm I don't use metric for anything. I always thought metric was a European thing but I forgot you Canadians use it too. Gas is always sold by the gallon. Milk is gallons or half gallons. Sugar is sold by the pound. Everything is inches or feet. Driving is always in miles. The temperature outside is 60 degrees Fahrenheit. Tell you what come to think of it I don't think anyone ever taught me anything in metrics.

[*Anastasia]

Hmmm I don't use metric for anything. I always thought metric was a European thing but I forgot you Canadians use it too. Gas is always sold by the gallon. Milk is gallons or half gallons. Sugar is sold by the pound. Everything is inches or feet. Driving is always in miles. The temperature outside is 60 degrees Fahrenheit. Tell you what come to think of it I don't think anyone ever taught me anything in metrics.

It's a bit more than a European thing, to be fair: every country other than the US, Liberia, and Myanmar officially uses it. But 'official' is the key word, and the degree of its adoption really does vary wildly from place to place. In Japan they measure human height in centimeters! Centimeters yet! ~wanders off grumbling about how useful feet are…

[Haflinger]

It's not that hard, really. Playing Dragon's Dogma, the metric character measurements took me about a week or so to get used to, but now I know how tall 160cm is - for example.

 

(DD is made by a Japanese game company, Capcom, and when you're designing your characters' physical appearances, the height is given in cm and the weight in kg. They don't tell you that's what the numbers mean, but I figured that out pretty fast.)