Is The Metric System Vulgar?
2002-12-05
"a complicated question. to the degree that the metric system deviates from older british usages, it is rather vulgar. but then too, insofar as it evokes french or even italian practices, it has a certain panache, as in "i'd like a half-kilo of the nice looking ris de veau." i think it finally depends on what you measure with it. knowing how much a liter is, after all, identifies you immediately as a person long intimate with the contents of imported wine bottles."
Paul Fussell, Class, A Guide Through The American Status System
-finn
Previously:
Shiny Happy Person (or Something Like That) - 2005-08-19
Having Trouble Saying What I Mean With Dead Poets and a Drum Machine - 2005-08-14
Let's Rock! - 2005-07-27
Knock Me Right Off My Feet - 2005-07-22
Play or You'll Never Know - 2005-07-14
