A Call For Humor!

[rationaltime]

 

[Bleib]

 

[lucian]

 

[Robin L]

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SMOG!!!

 

[Multicore]

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I recall being told that in NZ they use metric for pretty much everything except baby weight, which is pounds and ounces. Can anyone confirm?

 

[FreakyKiwi]

I recall being told that in NZ they use metric for pretty much everything except baby weight, which is pounds and ounces. Can anyone confirm?

Yes, I can confirm.
I'd say it's a watered down version of how the UK still use some imperial measurements.
Officially and scientifically we are metric, but in casual use some imperial creeps in.
Baby weight as you have said is generally shared with friends and family in pounds and ounces
A persons height will likely be stated in feet and inches.

 

[Ralph_Cramden]

I remember the first time I saw Steve Martin (who'd already honed his chops as a writer for The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour) on The Tonight Show, doing pretty straightforward stand-up. I remember only bits and pieces of his shtick at this late date, but the joke that stuck with me went something like this:

Why do banks always have names like FIDELITY BANK AND TRUST? Why not Bob's Bank? "Hi, I'm Bob! This's my bank!"

Bank of Dave | Rotten Tomatoes

Discover reviews, ratings, and trailers for Bank of Dave on Rotten Tomatoes. Stay updated with critic and audience scores today!

www.rottentomatoes.com

 

[lucian]

 

[lucian]

 

[lucian]

 

[fatoldgit]

Remember to buckle up for safety!

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I think she is also testing some prototype air bags as well as the safety belt.

Peter

 

[fatoldgit]

Yes, I can confirm.
I'd say it's a watered down version of how the UK still use some imperial measurements.
Officially and scientifically we are metric, but in casual use some imperial creeps in.
Baby weight as you have said is generally shared with friends and family in pounds and ounces
A persons height will likely be stated in feet and inches.

Not sure about the last bit "A persons height will likely be stated in feet and inches.".... not seen that in any public/official pronouncements.

I can only assume that the baby weight is done in "old money" cause the grandparents grew up in pre metric days (as I did) so it helps them...remember these are people who couldn't set the clock on a VCR.

Or maybe they haven't got around to printing any new Plunket books due to budget cuts so they are forced to record in pounds and ounces.

Peter

*** Living the dream in the back blocks of NZ

 

[Robin L]

 

[Petrushka]

Not sure about the last bit "A persons height will likely be stated in feet and inches.".... not seen that in any public/official pronouncements.

I can only assume that the baby weight is done in "old money" cause the grandparents grew up in pre metric days (as I did) so it helps them...remember these are people who couldn't set the clock on a VCR.

Or maybe they haven't got around to printing any new Plunket books due to budget cuts so they are forced to record in pounds and ounces.

Peter

*** Living the dream in the back blocks of NZ

Road signs still show miles and mph. Booths systems, actually.

I thought weights were in stones.

 

[fatoldgit]

Road signs still show miles and mph. Booths systems, actually.

I thought weights were in stones.

heck of a large baby if it weighed a stone!!!

 

[Sir Sanders Zingmore]

Otoh, if we can't use laughter to explore and understand social topics together then that would be a loss since it allows us to take some of the risk out of exploring delicate moral questions openly. I'd rather get laughed at and maybe ridiculed after venturing some idea in the ethical interzone than feel I must hold my tongue.

My simplistic view on this is that if your jokes are “punching down” then nothing is really being explored.
Of course it is more nuanced than that. Even though loads of these issues *are* serious, sometimes its easy for people to take themselves too seriously

 

[norman bates]

 

[FreakyKiwi]

Not sure about the last bit "A persons height will likely be stated in feet and inches.".... not seen that in any public/official pronouncements.

I can only assume that the baby weight is done in "old money" cause the grandparents grew up in pre metric days (as I did) so it helps them

Feet and inches is not official or taught but I don't ever remember being told or discussing someone's height in a social encounter in cm.
Certainly when visiting the doctor, or applying for a passport, metric is used

Yes, I think it is to have a common language and simple historical comparison across generations.
Everyone knows that a 9 pound baby is large, but 4kg doesn't sound as impressive.

I was born post metrication FWIW.

Metrication in New Zealand - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

Although New Zealand completed metrication in 1976, a 1992 study of university students found that at that time, there was a continued use of imperial units for birth weight and human height alongside metric units.[3] On the thirtieth anniversary of the introduction of the metric system in December 2006, the New Zealand Consumer Affairs Minister, Judith Tizard, commented that "Now 30 years on the metric system is part of our daily lives" but noted some continuing use of imperial measurements in some birth announcements of baby weights and also with people's heights.

 

[norman bates]

An unhappy banana….

 

[Snickers-is]

My simplistic view on this is that if your jokes are “punching down” then nothing is really being explored.
Of course it is more nuanced than that. Even though loads of these issues *are* serious, sometimes its easy for people to take themselves too seriously

It is important not to mistake the subject of a joke with its target.