working with all these non-Americans in Australia (they have blokes from all over the world, but mostly Aussies and S.E. Asia) is interesting. they are all very opinionated about americans. one of their biggest beefs is us not switching to the metric system. i tell them that actually, universities teaching engineering & science, military, etc, is all metric. we talk of 9mm handguns 2 liters of soda, etc., all our groceries are both imperial and metric... and if i'm really in a cheeky mood, i'll point out how stupid it sounds when people refer to Kilograms as 'weight', when its a unit of mass. Pounds, however, are properly units of weight, a force, and Americans have it right when we say weighs so many pounds, and they all have it wrong when they say weighs so many kilograms. They should be using the SI unit Newtons.
Well, it's a very good comeback to Aussies, but . . . since all mass on earth has weight in fair proportions, it is a distinction that only matters in physical science where velocity and inertia must be considered. In terms of how heavy a brick is, mass and weight have no practically distinction.
yeah, maybe if you want to live in earth's gravitational field your whole life:yelwink2: was just reading a Australian newspaper, i think one of the main ones, and a big article about frozen dinners began, "The frozen dinnner, America's contribution to world cuisuine..." I've always heard of anti-American sentiment throughout the world but that little seemingly contemptous line kind of surprised me. I hope they don't make me play the "prisoner heritage" card
I do indeed. Everybody is prejudiced about everyone else and shallow about it. The Australians probably have a Rock and Roll song that criticizes American music. They probably have Anti-American hamburger joints. What is the Australian contribution to world cuisine? Wallaby stew? A black acquaintance of mine once jokingly complained that "Euro-Americans" were ripping off his African culture, listening to rap music, aping black fashions, and using hip-hop words and such. I reminded him how funny that was with him standing there in his Italian suit, using his Hebrew first name and French last name while speaking English into his Swedish cellphone.
