Cleaning Up the Metric Mess


Scientists love it. Foreign car manufacturers love it. U.S. motorists hate it. Everyone over 35 hates it. The attempt to introduce it in the U.S. is an acknowledged flop. Why? Because old habits die hard. And because any new system is just plain confusing.

The following equivalency table should be a great help in ending the confusion. It is a veritable metric rosetta stone -- guaranteed to clarify everything:



1 million microphones = 1 megaphone

2000 mockingbirds = 2 kilomockingbirds

10 cards = 1 decacards

1 millionth of a fish = 1 microfiche

453.6 graham crackers = 1 pound cake

1 trillion pins = 1 terrapin

10 rations = 1 decoration

100 rations = 1 C-ration

10 millipedes = 1 centipede

3 tridents = 1 decadent

2 monograms = 1 diagram

8 nickels = 2 paradigms

2 wharves = 1 paradox


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