Article: 149387 of sci.geo.satellite-nav Newsgroups: sci.geo.satellite-nav Subject: Re: How far is a click? References: <20000530032611.20055.00000763@ng-cn1.news.cs.com> <8gvrv5$e10$1@sshuraac-i-1.production.compuserve.com> <39337E4F.C5EBD99E@rug.ac.be> Organization: JLW Consulting X-Newsreader: trn 4.0-test69 (20 September 1998) From: woolsey@jlw.com (Jeff Woolsey) NNTP-Posting-Host: finagle.jlw.com X-Original-NNTP-Posting-Host: finagle.jlw.com Message-ID: <393898c4@news1.meer.net> Date: 2 Jun 2000 22:33:56 -0700 X-Trace: 2 Jun 2000 22:33:56 -0700, finagle.jlw.com Lines: 41 Path: news1.meer.net!not-for-mail Xref: news1.meer.net sci.geo.satellite-nav:149387 In article <39337E4F.C5EBD99E@rug.ac.be>, Geert Meesen wrote: >Hi, > >I was also wondering about the term 'click' after I heard it this >weekend in a movie about two military snippers. Thanks for the answer, >Bob. > >BTW, what's the origin of this term ? > Ahh, this gives me an opportunity to expound on my favorite theory as to why the metric system never caught on in the U.S.-- too many syllables. Very rough equivalents US Metric inch centimeter foot decimeter hand decimeter yard meter mile kilometer cup deciliter pint liter ounce milligram pound kilogram ton metric ton So, because the US units are so short and easy to say, and people have a natural tendency to shorten things they say often, you get clicks for kilometers (presumably also because the odometer clicks over the miles^H^H^H^H^Hkilometers), and keys for kilograms. I wonder what we'll get for liters. -- Jeff Woolsey +1 408 487 7177 {woolsey,jlw}@{jlw,mri{,.mentor{,g}},microtec}.com "Tried working once. Didn't work out. Too much like work." -Steed Helping people move: Never again. For anyone. Ever.