Americanisms

When did films become movies?

Parents
  • I am at present reading a novel written by an English author set in England but the police are referred to as 'cops'.

    I wonder whether this is to appeal to the US book market.

  • I hate it when authors do that. 

  • So when I write a story (all of my stories are in fantasy/sci-fi worlds) I have tried pushing myself to use metric system measurements instead of imperial measurements. I mean, if I have a choice between having my worlds using an American system or a worldwide-accepted system, I think it’s obvious which one is more appropriate lol

  • The change over happened when I was at primary school and I never got to grips with either system, I prefer pounds and ounces when baking and if I have to be weighed I prefer it to be in kilo's as I have no idea if it's "good or bad".

    Women in my family have evolved a 4oz handful, my Nan was a good baker and always used handfuls which annoyed my dad and he said she couldn't know how much of anything she was putting in, and got her weight handfuls in front of him and they were all 4oz's. I've inherited this gift, I wonder how many generations it would take to evolve and 100g handful?

  • We're a hopeless bunch in the UK about measurements, as we use a mixture. We measure distance in miles, yards and feet, but also in metres. Weight is metric for dry goods but might well be pints and fluid onces for liquids. On top of that, our volume measurement aren't the same as US ones - a US gallon isn't the same as a British one. Not that we use either at the fuel pump - that's all litres, even though our cars measure speed at miles per hour!

Reply
  • We're a hopeless bunch in the UK about measurements, as we use a mixture. We measure distance in miles, yards and feet, but also in metres. Weight is metric for dry goods but might well be pints and fluid onces for liquids. On top of that, our volume measurement aren't the same as US ones - a US gallon isn't the same as a British one. Not that we use either at the fuel pump - that's all litres, even though our cars measure speed at miles per hour!

Children
  • The change over happened when I was at primary school and I never got to grips with either system, I prefer pounds and ounces when baking and if I have to be weighed I prefer it to be in kilo's as I have no idea if it's "good or bad".

    Women in my family have evolved a 4oz handful, my Nan was a good baker and always used handfuls which annoyed my dad and he said she couldn't know how much of anything she was putting in, and got her weight handfuls in front of him and they were all 4oz's. I've inherited this gift, I wonder how many generations it would take to evolve and 100g handful?