Pakistan?

Not judging by 'Lahore Law', the new TV series which makes us all grateful for our creaking system of British justice. Recently there was a debate about the depth of a body buried in the back garden. "1 foot 6", said one witness. The other said: "No, 1 foot 4 and-a-half".

Israel?

Ehud Barak (former Israeli Prime Minister) said a recent wall going up round Jerusalem would be 'hundreds of yards thick and several miles long'.

Canada?

I hear of a loud protest by some of the Indian reservations against the Canadians trying to enforce metric over their traditional system of weights and measures.

TB

Are you the same Tony Bennet, regular on the UKIP boards?

On topic: Yes, whilst I cannot cite specific examples, I have noticed many people abroad on the news, especially from Israel, mentioning things in imperial measures, even when not being specific ie. not an ounce of fat on him, or, every square inch of his body. Not refering, even, to actual specific measurs, but in colloquial "give them an inch and they'll take a yard". I think this is potentially quite significant, of what, though, is another issue...

The following is as near verbatim a quote as can be remembered by BWMA member Philip Iveyray who heard this in a feature on Bollywood and Indian/Pakistani sign-writing on the BBC World Service, Thursday morning (4 July) 1.28am (BST I think):

"First we do a very small intricate painting. We then divide that into one-inch squares and enlarge it. For medium-sized posters we enlarge in one foot squares rather than one inch, and for really big posters we enlarge from one-inch squares to ten-foot squares".

I think India and Pakistan are classed as 'metric countries' by the UK Metrication Association.

Tony Bennett

My Pakistani friend in Harlow 'phoned up over the weekend to say 'congratulations' on the victory over Lee Valley Park, widely reported in the local press. We got to discussing weights and measuers in Pakistan, and he confirmed that British weights and measures are in everyday use there.

He told me that Urdu words for inch, foot, yard and mile are, respectively, 'inch', 'fut', 'guaz' and 'meel'. He's never heard the word 'metre' or its Urdu equivalent used in Pakistan.

The BBC World Service carried a lengthy report on farming in Canada yesterday (reports Philip Iveyray).

In a discussion on fertilisers, the farmer being interviewed explained how many pounds per acre of fertiliser he used.

Canada is claimed as a 'metric country'

Tony Bennett

I have seen many reports that have been "dumbed down" by the UK media - for example the reports in the press about the comet that might get close to earth gaves ist size as being about 12.5 miles in diameter. I think that the original statement was 20km. It does not take rocket science to realise that the UK journalists converted km to miles.