Pronouncing decimal numbers

[rbowman]

Yes, the BBC might want to change its name. A twitter user pointed out ATM has several meanings, one of which I did not have to know.

[rbowman]

I remember the Chief. He should have a statue in Washington rather than some privileged white slave owner like Washington.

[rbowman]

Are lumber dimensions, windows, prehung doors and so forth also metric? A

51x102 doesn't roll off the tongue.

It must have been an interesting transition. An architect friend told me construction innovations were difficult because ultimately you came up against standardized dimensions. For example there was a technique of laying up a brick wall dry and spraying it with an epoxy bonding agent. It was structurally sound but without the traditional mortar joint nothing fit. Of course the trade unions weren't enthusiastic either.

[charles]

Timber (lumber across the Pond) is stilll thought of in Imperial Units. your bit is 2x4 although I know it as 4x2.

[Mark Lloyd]

When I don't need to be really accurate, I consider a meter to be 39 inches (three and a quarter feet).

[Mark Lloyd]

Here's my BBC:

"BBC keyboard assistant, self-installing retail version"

[Rich Ulrich]

Nowadays, we almost always write the digits, not the words.

Writing out numbers was more popular in the 19th century, and the custom then seems to have been to use the word "and" after the count of hundreds. A few months ago, I argued that some piece of text sounded anacrhonistic for the 19th century /because/ it left out the "and".

A few years ago, I decided to stop writing the "and" on my rent checks ... but I don't think that the "and" was a life-long habit. Writing checks is my main occasion for writing out a large number.

[Peter Moylan]

Yes.

Well, that's hardly a standard size. But you could get that size if you went to the sort of timber yard that cut to your specification.

[Peter Moylan]

Likewise, I think of a foot as being approximately one nanosecond. Or 30 cm, in some situations.

[rbowman]

When I don't have to be really accurate I consider a meter to be a yard. The local range has target backers at 2, 3, 4, and 500 meters but yards is close enough. (a few strolls out to 400 meters and back adds up)

I do better with kilometers to miles due to driving in Canada.

[rbowman]

For some reason many people of my generation know how many grams there are in an ounce. I also know 9mm is .354 in, most certainly not .357.

[rbowman]

What is used in place of the ubiquitous 'two by four', which is really 1

1/2 x 3 1/2 ".

They've never been 2x4 in my life time although when I was a kid they were a little larger. I think '64 was when the industry standardized.

You also need to be wary about the 8 foot part. The majority of what you find at Home Depot are 'pre-cut studs' meaning they are 92 5/8". The theory is there will be a 2x4 bottom plate and a top plate so the whole thing will fix a 4' x 8' sheet of drywall. (which, strangely enough. is

4x8).

Like I said it will be a cold day in hell before the building trades try to translate this mess to metric.

[rbowman]

I had one of those but he went out one morning last July and never came back. Coyotes are rough on the cats around here. He wouldn't have been happy as an indoor cat so you make your choices and take the consequences.

[lar3ryca]

'round these parts, the pre-cut studs are plainly marked by signage. People who are not aware of the difference will usually only get bitten once.

[rbowman]

After they build a slightly undersized picnic table :) The last time I bought any they should have been labeled 'pre-cut corkscrews' :)

[Phil Carmody]

Does "followed by" mean something different to you than the rest of us?

Phil

[Cindy Hamilton]

Sorry. Ben Verified seems to have forgotten (or never was taught) that a mixed fraction consists of an integer and a proper fraction.

Or perhaps he's blissfully ignorant of the fact that we've been discussing real numbers all along.

[Ralph Mowery]

The 2x4 has been srinking in the 2x4 part for many years. I have some that are about 30 years old and they are thicker than the newer ones. That would make the stud wall 92 5/8 length slightly different because of the bottom and top plates. The plywood for floors have changed thickness too. The lumber companies just will not stick to the same 'standard' sizes.

[Ken Blake]

The lumber companies just want to make more money.

[Jim Joyce]

Wasn't that a one-time "shrink" in 1964, when 2x4's actually became

1.5x3.5? I haven't seen any further shrinkage since then. You can buy 2x3's (1.5x2.5) but that's a whole different product.

As for the length, everywhere I've been they've been clearly marked, with the vast majority being 96" (8 feet) and one stack out of the bunch clearly marked at the shorter length.

When it comes to dimensional lumber bigger than 2x4's, I've noticed that

96" is actually more like 96.5" or even 97". I was told it's because the mills expect you to cut it to actual length. My last batch of 8' PT pine decking was actually various lengths from 96.5" to 97.5", which was nice because I could get two 48" sections from a single board, something I couldn't do if the board started out at exactly 96".

Plywood changed thickness (got slightly thinner) quite a few years ago, as well, but I think that was also a one-time change. It doesn't bother me since it doesn't affect my woodworking projects.