Pedantic question about standardisation

Roger Cole · Aug 28, 2012

And I can buy all the handguns and longuns I want with just a photo ID and instant check, ditto ammunition for them, and carry one loaded in my vehicle with no permit (and as I said get the permit for $75, a clean record, set of prints, and a couple of hours to kill at the courthouse.) Ammunition just requires the photo ID - must be 21 for handguns and ammo, only 18 for rifles and shotguns.

Tennessee where I lived before is the same as far as buying goes, a little (just a little) harder for the permit - it's still a "shall issue" state (meaning they MUST issue if you want it and meet the requirements, you don't have to say why you want it or convince anyone you need it) but TN does require a class. I think it's two or three days. You have to show you can shoot it safely, but not necessarily very well.

Vaughn · Aug 29, 2012

Sirius Glass said:
Can one break their arm goodly?

Irregardless [my bad] I wish you a speed and complete recovery.

It always seemed to me that a 'near miss' would have to mean you actually hit it. Either you missed it or you hit it...if you nearly missed it than you must have hit it...

RalphLambrecht · Aug 29, 2012

americans will go metric, but they'll do it inch by inch, while the brits think,i'ts a misspelled magic trick, they need to learn, and both can't spell 'kindergarten' right.funny to watch both groups to argue over language. by the way,the yanks, i know a,are far better educated than the brits, iknow,but that could be accidental, i know pretty smart people on both sides.

Steve Smith · Aug 29, 2012

I have thought of another one.

Americans use # to denote number. In the UK it's No. or more correctly, the o is over a line. No is as close as you can get without a special character.

Steve.

Thomas Bertilsson · Aug 29, 2012

No

A confusing aspect about the # sign is that it is called the pound sign. So if you measure steam flow, for example, you measure it in lbs/hr (pounds per hour). Some people simply write this as #/hr. Why it's used to denote number is beyond me.

But I do think that pounds as a weight measurement having the same unit measurement as Pounds, as in British currency, is possibly even more surprising. Does anybody know why that happened? Was it that all the coins counting up to one Pound weighed the same as a pound?

Steve Smith · Aug 29, 2012

You did better than me finding the symbol!

In England this £ is a pound sign. One pound of weight is denoted 1lb.

# is not the same as ♯ which denotes a sharpened note.

Steve.

Diapositivo · Aug 29, 2012

Thomas Bertilsson said:
But I do think that pounds as a weight measurement having the same unit measurement as Pounds, as in British currency, is possibly even more surprising. Does anybody know why that happened? Was it that all the coins counting up to one Pound weighed the same as a pound?

Pound, Peso (pl. Pesos), Lira/Libra, are words related to weight (or scale to measure them) because in the past the value of the money was roughly given by the matter of which it was composed. Examples of coins having a value bigger than its metal content abound since the times of the Romans, but the value slowly reverted to the metal content.

In this sense "pound" probably just means a (certain) weight, not the weight of a pound, just like a "peso" is a coin of a certain weight (peso = weight in Italian and I suppose in Spanish as well). "Sterling pound" just means that the money "really, honestly, genuinely" weights that certain weight (as guaranteed by the mint). You were always in need to weight the coins though, as it has always been possible and practical for silver and gold coins the action of fare la cresta as we say in Italy, that is to rasp away some matter from the edge and then if present recreate the milling.

Libra means balance in Latin but it probably ended by meaning "pound" which is I presume why "pound" is shortened "lb" and why the symbol is £. Lira is probably a derivative of libra and is also shortened with £.

Libra, lb and £ probably come from Italy which was the main European centre of commerce until let's say the XV century.

BrianShaw · Aug 29, 2012

You guys are amazing... and humorous. But Ralph just said something that inspires me to abandon this thread and do something different. Maybe I'll waddle over to the For Sale Forum and buys ome inexpensive (but not cheap) gear.

Thomas Bertilsson · Aug 29, 2012

Diapositivo said:
Pound, Peso (pl. Pesos), Lira/Libra, are words related to weight (or scale to measure them) because in the past the value of the money was roughly given by the matter of which it was composed. Examples of coins having a value bigger than its metal content abound since the times of the Romans, but the value slowly reverted to the metal content.

In this sense "pound" probably just means a (certain) weight, not the weight of a pound, just like a "peso" is a coin of a certain weight (peso = weight in Italian and I suppose in Spanish as well). "Sterling pound" just means that the money "really, honestly, genuinely" weights that certain weight (as guaranteed by the mint). You were always in need to weight the coins though, as it has always been possible and practical for silver and gold coins the action of fare la cresta as we say in Italy, that is to rasp away some matter from the edge and then if present recreate the milling.

Libra means balance in Latin but it probably ended by meaning "pound" which is I presume why "pound" is shortened "lb" and why the symbol is £. Lira is probably a derivative of libra and is also shortened with £.

Libra, lb and £ probably come from Italy which was the main European centre of commerce until let's say the XV century.

That's very informative and pedantic of you... hahaha Thanks for this plausible explanation.

Steve Smith · Aug 29, 2012

Thomas Bertilsson said:
That's very informative and pedantic of you... hahaha Thanks for this plausible explanation.

Agreed!

Steve.

E. von Hoegh · Aug 29, 2012

Sirius Glass said:
In one line?

If you call me a gun nut one more time, I WILL SHOOT YOU!

Do you understand now?

Guns don't kill people unless you aim them properly.

BrianShaw · Aug 29, 2012

Never ask a Marine if you can handle his gun or you'll get a big surprise!

This is my rifle. There are many like it, but this one is mine.

My rifle is my best friend. It is my life. I must master it as I must master my life.

My rifle, without me, is useless. Without my rifle, I am useless. I must fire my rifle true. I must shoot straighter than my enemy who is trying to kill me. I must shoot him before he shoots me. I will...

My rifle and myself know that what counts in this war is not the rounds we fire, the noise of our burst, nor the smoke we make. We know that it is the hits that count. We will hit...

My rifle is human, even as I, because it is my life. Thus, I will learn it as a brother. I will learn its weaknesses, its strength, its parts, its accessories, its sights and its barrel. I will ever guard it against the ravages of weather and damage as I will ever guard my legs, my arms, my eyes and my heart against damage. I will keep my rifle clean and ready. We will become part of each other. We will...

Before God, I swear this creed. My rifle and myself are the defenders of my country. We are the masters of our enemy. We
are the saviors of my life.

So be it, until victory is America's and there is no enemy, but peace!

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

E. von Hoegh · Aug 29, 2012

This is my rifle.
This is my gun.
One is for shooting,
The other's for fun.

BrianShaw · Aug 29, 2012

E. von Hoegh said:
One is for shooting,

... and a few other things.

blansky · Aug 29, 2012

E. von Hoegh said:
Guns don't kill people unless you aim them properly.

Tell that to the people in NY that the cops sprayed the other day.

blansky · Aug 29, 2012

BrianShaw said:
So be it, until victory is America's and there is no enemy, but peace!

Nice sentiment for someone who has been sent to war but what if America is in the wrong, and in fact ARE the enemy of peace?

BrianShaw · Aug 29, 2012

blansky said:
Nice sentiment for someone who has been sent to war but what if America is in the wrong, and in fact ARE the enemy of peace?

Yup, that's a complication that needs to be addressed on a case-by-case basis. I didn't feel entitled to change the creed to read something like, "So be it until victory is the victor's, and/or the rightious's, ..."

E. von Hoegh · Aug 29, 2012

blansky said:
Nice sentiment for someone who has been sent to war but what if America is in the wrong, and in fact ARE the enemy of peace?

Ask Lord Tennyson.

Gerald C Koch · Aug 29, 2012

One of the best comments on war is "When old men argue, young men die." This observation has been true for millenia.

blansky · Aug 29, 2012

BrianShaw said:
Yup, that's a complication that needs to be addressed on a case-by-case basis. I didn't feel entitled to change the creed to read something like, "So be it until victory is the victor's, and/or the rightious's, ..."

I absolutely respect your creed.

But America right or wrong is an outdated slogan.

Foreign policy dictated and sold to the public by war hawks who usually are draft dodgers from the Viet Nam era or for corporate interests is a dangerous concept.

58,000 dead and untold thousands physically and mentally maimed in Viet Nam in a war that meant nothing.

A few thousand dead and untold thousands physically and mentally maimed in the Middle East that may end up meaning nothing is a high price to pay.

These numbers are just for our side. Multiply by at least 20 for the other side and innocent bystanders.

War is an outdated concept.

Steve Smith · Aug 29, 2012

There is no way I would want to live in a country where ordinary citizens are allowed to have guns.

Steve.

BrianShaw · Aug 29, 2012

Steve Smith said:
There is no way I would want to live in a country where ordinary citizens are allowed to have guns.

Oh.. then don't move!

Steve Smith · Aug 29, 2012

Don't intend to!

Steve.

BrianShaw · Aug 29, 2012

blansky said:
I absolutely respect your creed.

But America right or wrong is an outdated slogan.

Foreign policy dictated and sold to the public by war hawks who usually are draft dodgers from the Viet Nam era or for corporate interests is a dangerous concept.

58,000 dead and untold thousands physically and mentally maimed in Viet Nam in a war that meant nothing.

A few thousand dead and untold thousands physically and mentally maimed in the Middle East that may end up meaning nothing is a high price to pay.

These numbers are just for our side. Multiply by at least 20 for the other side and innocent bystanders.

War is an outdated concept.

I actually agree with you. I haven't a clue what to do about it except move to Canada... and that's a bit too cold for my liking.

BrianShaw · Aug 29, 2012

Steve Smith said:
Don't intend to.

I actually would rather not live in a country when many in law enforcement, who are supposedly trained in good judgement and firearms use are over-testosteroned, ego-maniacal, nuckle-heads.

Pedantic question about standardisation

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