"...equivalent to the population of..."

[Guy Barry]

"It's been revealed that the UK Border Agency has a backlog of cases
equivalent to the population of Newcastle-upon-Tyne." (BBC Radio 4
8am news bulletin)

Does this sort of comparison help anyone to understand the scale of
the problem? I had to look up the population of Newcastle-upon-Tyne -
it's 280,200 for the metropolitan borough and city area. Or
880,000 for the whole Tyneside conurbation. Or 1,093,400 for the
former metropolitan county of Tyne and Wear, or 1,650,000 for the
"Tyne and Wear City Region" (whatever that is).

Why not simply state the number explicitly?

--
Guy Barry

[Katy Jennison]

I had much the same thought, though later the news-people did spell it
out. (ObAUE: number it out??) The idea seemed to be to make people
think "Gosh! A whole big city's worth!"

--
Katy Jennison

[Ian Jackson]

In message <slrnk0pvo1....@mbp55.local>, Lewis
<g.k...@gmail.com.dontsendmecopies> writes
>In message <juiu6b$f46$2...@news.albasani.net>

>Go on then, which number was it?
>
So Newcastle has been added to the list of standard units of
measurements (for number). Fame at last!

Will Wales continue to be the standard unit of area?
--
Ian

[the Omrud]

On 23/07/2012 08:36, Lewis wrote:
> In message <juiu6b$f46$2...@news.albasani.net>
> Katy Jennison <ka...@spamtrap.kjennison.com> wrote:

> Go on then, which number was it?

Two hundred and something thousand - presumably the first.

--
David

[R H Draney]

Ian Jackson filted:

>
>In message <slrnk0pvo1....@mbp55.local>, Lewis
><g.k...@gmail.com.dontsendmecopies> writes
>>

>So Newcastle has been added to the list of standard units of
>measurements (for number). Fame at last!
>
>Will Wales continue to be the standard unit of area?

Not here it won't...comedian Robert Klein long ago titled one of his routines
"Approximately the Size of New Jersey" after the US equivalent:

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E01E5D91631F937A35755C0A9609C8B63

....r


--
Me? Sarcastic?
Yeah, right.

[Guy Barry]

"Katy Jennison" <ka...@spamtrap.kjennison.com> wrote in message
news:juiu6b$f46$2...@news.albasani.net...

> On 23/07/2012 08:15, Guy Barry wrote:
> > "It's been revealed that the UK Border Agency has a backlog of cases
> > equivalent to the population of Newcastle-upon-Tyne." (BBC Radio 4

> > 8am news bulletin) [...]

> >
> > Why not simply state the number explicitly?
>
> I had much the same thought, though later the news-people did spell it
> out. (ObAUE: number it out??) The idea seemed to be to make people
> think "Gosh! A whole big city's worth!"

It's actually quite misleading in my opinion. Most people who aren't from
the area, I imagine, would think of "Newcastle-upon-Tyne" as referring to
the entire conurbation, whereas in fact the metropolitan district is quite a
small area, immediately to the north of the Tyne. (Gateshead in particular
has always been separate.) The actual number in question was around a
quarter of a million. Which is quite large, I admit, but not as large as
the report might lead to you think.

--
Guy Barry

[Derek Turner]

On Mon, 23 Jul 2012 08:23:55 +0100, Katy Jennison wrote:

> The idea seemed to be to make people
> think "Gosh! A whole big city's worth!"

...and all of them wearing T-shirts and short skirts in the middle of
winter.

[Don Phillipson]

"Guy Barry" <guy....@blueyonder.co.uk> wrote in message
news:1e754e41-bf49-49e5...@y12g2000yqe.googlegroups.com...

> "It's been revealed that the UK Border Agency has a backlog of cases
> equivalent to the population of Newcastle-upon-Tyne." (BBC Radio 4

> 8am news bulletin) . . .

> Why not simply state the number explicitly?

This may have been prompted by recent publicity (in the BBC as well
as government) to promote Newcastle and environs as a "cultural
centre," cf. the Gateshead Centre, art gallery, etc. This is the commonest
policy today for "rust belt" towns that have closed their ports, mines, and
other sources of employment. (Local examples here include Elliot Lake,
Ontario, which in 1960 was the biggest uranium producer in the western
world: but its mines have all closed, so the town is trying to survive by
advertising its empty houses as a "retirement community." This is not
helped by the recent collapse of its only shopping centre, which killed
two people.)

--
Don Phillipson
Carlsbad Springs
(Ottawa, Canada)

[the Omrud]

I'll have you know I've visited Newcastle in mid-winter, but never
wearing a short skirt.

--
David

[Jerry Friedman]

On Monday, July 23, 2012 1:15:39 AM UTC-6, Guy Barry wrote:
> "It's been revealed that the UK Border Agency has a backlog of cases
> equivalent to the population of Newcastle-upon-Tyne." (BBC Radio 4
> 8am news bulletin)
>
> Does this sort of comparison help anyone to understand the scale of
> the problem? I had to look up the population of Newcastle-upon-Tyne -
> it's 280,200 for the metropolitan borough and city area. Or
> 880,000 for the whole Tyneside conurbation. Or 1,093,400 for the
> former metropolitan county of Tyne and Wear, or 1,650,000 for the

> &quot;Tyne and Wear City Region&quot; (whatever that is).

>
> Why not simply state the number explicitly?

Would "roughly equal to the number of Geordies" have conveyed anything?

--
Jerry Friedman

[Peter Duncanson [BrE]]

But that might include members of the Geordie Diaspora or, to adapt an
Indian government phrase, NRGs (Non-Resident Geordies).

--
Peter Duncanson, UK
(in alt.usage.english)

[Katy Jennison]

One of my American grand-daughters, who's penfriends (or Facebook
friends) with a classful of her Geordie contemporaries (this because one
of my son's school cohort lives in Newcastle and has a son of the same
age as my grand-daughter), spent a day in a Newcastle school in June,
and dressed to suit. June this year in Newcastle (and in the rest of
England) approximated to the middle of winter. School uniform skirts
were worn short.

--
Katy Jennison

[Joe Fineman]

Ian Jackson <ianREMOVET...@g3ohx.demon.co.uk> writes:

> So Newcastle has been added to the list of standard units of
> measurements (for number). Fame at last!
>
> Will Wales continue to be the standard unit of area?

In America, I have encountered the tennis court as a unit of area.
Much more common, however, is the football field (=100 yd) as a unit
of length.

American journalists, on mentioning a sufficiently obscure foreign
country, usually look up which state of the union is closest to it in
area.
--
--- Joe Fineman jo...@verizon.net

||: Mens sana qui mal y pense. :||

[Cheryl]

Once old enough to dress unassisted, young people never dress for the
weather. I live near a high school, a junior high school and a
university, and have lost count of the people I've seen wearing shorts
or ripped jeans or short skirts in a snowstorm. They don't wear boots,
or anything on their heads or hands either.

Cheryl

--
Cheryl

[Robin Bignall]

It seems the done thing to show as much of one's attributes as possible
without getting arrested, from as young as possible. It does not add to
their allure. Or maybe I'm too old to appreciate it.
--
Robin Bignall
(BrE)
Herts, England

[Robert Bannister]

On 24/07/12 5:33 AM, Joe Fineman wrote:
> Ian Jackson <ianREMOVET...@g3ohx.demon.co.uk> writes:
>
>> So Newcastle has been added to the list of standard units of
>> measurements (for number). Fame at last!
>>
>> Will Wales continue to be the standard unit of area?
>
> In America, I have encountered the tennis court as a unit of area.
> Much more common, however, is the football field (=100 yd) as a unit
> of length.

Considerably shorter than the various Ancient Greek stadia, then.


--
Robert Bannister

[Robert Bannister]

In my experience, young women (not just school girls), if they're going
out, do so dressed in very skimpy clothing whatever the weather. I saw a
couple the other evening when it was bitterly cold by Perth standards -
they were wearing more or less see-through gauzy stuff up top and skirts
that did not cover their bums. No jumper or coat.
--
Robert Bannister

[Robert Bannister]

On 24/07/12 7:34 AM, Cheryl wrote:

> Once old enough to dress unassisted, young people never dress for the
> weather. I live near a high school, a junior high school and a
> university, and have lost count of the people I've seen wearing shorts
> or ripped jeans or short skirts in a snowstorm. They don't wear boots,
> or anything on their heads or hands either.

The main thing is how they are completely unaffected by the weather.
Those few that do wear jumpers (sweaters) or coats will also keep them
on when it is 35° (95°F).

--
Robert Bannister

[pensive hamster]

On Jul 23, 10:33 pm, Joe Fineman <jo...@verizon.net> wrote:

> Ian Jackson <ianREMOVETHISjack...@g3ohx.demon.co.uk> writes:
> > So Newcastle has been added to the list of standard units of
> > measurements (for number). Fame at last!
>
> > Will Wales continue to be the standard unit of area?
>
> In America, I have encountered the tennis court as a unit of area.
> Much more common, however, is the football field (=100 yd) as a unit
> of length.
>

Football fields are quite commonly used in the UK as well, but as a
measure of area. Its (a given number of) double-decker buses in a row
as a unit of length. And olympic-sized swimming pools as a measure of
volume.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-18896770
"An iceberg twice the size of Manhattan has broken away from the
Petermann Glacier in northern Greenland."

[tony cooper]

Let's see, if I add a football field, a double-decker bus, and an
Olympic-sized swimming pool, I get an area about the size of Rhode
Island.

Why didn't you say that in the first place?


--
Tony Cooper - Orlando, Florida

[ke...@cam.ac.uk]

In article <48b68e3c-48d7-4ef8...@e20g2000vbm.googlegroups.com>,

pensive hamster <pensive...@hotmail.co.uk> wrote:
>as a unit of length. And olympic-sized swimming pools as a measure of
>volume.

Until recently, it was more likely to be the dome of St Paul's.

Katy

[Vinny Burgoo]

In alt.usage.english, Guy Barry wrote:
>"Katy Jennison" <ka...@spamtrap.kjennison.com> wrote in message

>> On 23/07/2012 08:15, Guy Barry wrote:

>> > "It's been revealed that the UK Border Agency has a backlog of cases
>> > equivalent to the population of Newcastle-upon-Tyne." (BBC Radio 4
>> > 8am news bulletin) [...]
>> >
>> > Why not simply state the number explicitly?
>>
>> I had much the same thought, though later the news-people did spell it
>> out. (ObAUE: number it out??) The idea seemed to be to make people
>> think "Gosh! A whole big city's worth!"
>
>It's actually quite misleading in my opinion. Most people who aren't from
>the area, I imagine, would think of "Newcastle-upon-Tyne" as referring to
>the entire conurbation, whereas in fact the metropolitan district is quite a
>small area, immediately to the north of the Tyne. (Gateshead in particular
>has always been separate.) The actual number in question was around a
>quarter of a million. Which is quite large, I admit, but not as large as
>the report might lead to you think.

The Beeb's online report of Vaz's statements is even more misleading. It
has him saying that UK Border Agency bigwigs received �3.5 billion in
bonuses in 2010. (�3.5 million, of course.)

I agree that Vaz would have been better off comparing the backlog to an
entire urban area rather than an ambiguous portion of one. Swansea fits
the bill quite well.

--
VB

[Vinny Burgoo]

In alt.usage.english, wrote:
>pensive hamster <pensive...@hotmail.co.uk> wrote:

>>as a unit of length. And olympic-sized swimming pools as a measure of
>>volume.
>
>Until recently, it was more likely to be the dome of St Paul's.

Or the Albert Hall.

The Register once tried to popularise the volume of Wales as a standard
unit. It's 103,300,000 cubic furlongs or '196600000000 biblical
letheks', whatever they are.

www.theregister.co.uk/2007/08/24/vulture_central_standards/print.html

--
VB

[Peter Young]

They need to study this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FFF_system

Peter.

--
Peter Young, (BrE, RP), Consultant Anaesthetist, 1975-2004.
(US equivalent: Certified Anesthesiologist)
Cheltenham and Gloucester, UK. Now happily retired.
http://pnyoung.orpheusweb.co.uk

[Whiskers]

On 2012-07-24, Lewis <g.k...@gmail.com.dontsendmecopies> wrote:
> In message <2L9Pr.66019$v24....@fx11.am4>

> Guy Barry <guy....@blueyonder.co.uk> wrote:
>
>> "Katy Jennison" <ka...@spamtrap.kjennison.com> wrote in message
>> news:juiu6b$f46$2...@news.albasani.net...
>>> On 23/07/2012 08:15, Guy Barry wrote:
>>> > "It's been revealed that the UK Border Agency has a backlog of cases
>>> > equivalent to the population of Newcastle-upon-Tyne." (BBC Radio 4
>>> > 8am news bulletin) [...]
>>> >
>>> > Why not simply state the number explicitly?
>>>
>>> I had much the same thought, though later the news-people did spell it
>>> out. (ObAUE: number it out??) The idea seemed to be to make people
>>> think "Gosh! A whole big city's worth!"
>
>> It's actually quite misleading in my opinion.
>

> I suspect that was rather the point. Make people think the 200,000
> number was a 1.4 million number. Otherwise, one would simply use the
> number and then say something "Approximate;y the population of the <some
> city with that total population in it's combined urban area>".

That number is about the size of a typical London borough (and as a
fair proportion of "illegals" are probably living in London, a dramatic
image is produced of eg Lambeth being entirely empty of people if all
the illegals were to go). But we mustn't be seen as too
London-centric, so find a northern place instead.

--
-- ^^^^^^^^^^
-- Whiskers
-- ~~~~~~~~~~

[Joe Fineman]

Vinny Burgoo <hlu...@yahoo.co.uk> writes:

> The Register once tried to popularise the volume of Wales as a
> standard unit. It's 103,300,000 cubic furlongs or '196600000000
> biblical letheks', whatever they are.

I once saw the size of the Library of Congress expressed in cubic
acres. A six-dimensional library would no doubt be capacious, but
easy to get lost in.

--
--- Joe Fineman jo...@verizon.net

||: Wave functions are the dreams that stuff is made on. :||

[Joe Fineman]

The remark my father used to make about such people (no doubt handed
down in his family since time immemorial) was "Where there's no sense,
there's no feeling".

--
--- Joe Fineman jo...@verizon.net

||: The end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we :||
||: started and know the place for the first time. :||

[the Omrud]

On 24/07/2012 05:22, pensive hamster wrote:
> On Jul 23, 10:33 pm, Joe Fineman <jo...@verizon.net> wrote:
>> Ian Jackson <ianREMOVETHISjack...@g3ohx.demon.co.uk> writes:
>>> So Newcastle has been added to the list of standard units of
>>> measurements (for number). Fame at last!
>>
>>> Will Wales continue to be the standard unit of area?
>>
>> In America, I have encountered the tennis court as a unit of area.
>> Much more common, however, is the football field (=100 yd) as a unit
>> of length.
>
> Football fields are quite commonly used in the UK as well, but as a
> measure of area. Its (a given number of) double-decker buses in a row
> as a unit of length. And olympic-sized swimming pools as a measure of
> volume.

Smaller volumes are also measured in DDBs (double decker buses). This
unit was widely used in Manchester in the 80s when the Victorian sewers
started to collapse, leaving huge holes in the roads.

--
David

[Mark Brader]

Joe Fineman:

> In America, I have encountered the tennis court as a unit of area.
> Much more common, however, is the football field (=100 yd) as a unit
> of length.

That's *one* use of it. Russ Rowlett has:

# football field [1]
# a common informal unit of distance in the United States and
# Canada. Americans aren't quite agreed as to whether the unit is
# exactly 100 yards (91.44 meters), the distance between the goal
# lines on an American football field, or 120 yards (109.728
# meters), the distance including the two end zones. Canadian
# football fields are 110 yards (100.58 meters) long between the
# goal lines and 150 yards (137.16 meters) including the end
# zones. As a distance equal to the length of an athletic field,
# this unit is analogous to the classical stade or stadium,
# although the stade is roughly twice as long as a football field.
#
# football field [2]
# an informal unit of area in the United States and Canada.
# Including the end zones, an American football field represents
# an area of about 1.3223 acres or 0.535 hectare while the
# Canadian football field has an area of 2.0145 acres or 0.815
# hectare.

--
Mark Brader, Toronto, m...@vex.net | "If the enemy is in range, so are you."

[Mike L]

On Tue, 24 Jul 2012 13:00:44 -0400, Joe Fineman <jo...@verizon.net>
wrote:

>Vinny Burgoo <hlu...@yahoo.co.uk> writes:
>
>> The Register once tried to popularise the volume of Wales as a
>> standard unit. It's 103,300,000 cubic furlongs or '196600000000
>> biblical letheks', whatever they are.
>
>I once saw the size of the Library of Congress expressed in cubic
>acres. A six-dimensional library would no doubt be capacious, but
>easy to get lost in.

I hadn't realised the LofC had been designed by Terry Pratchett: that
L-space solution is characteristic.

--
Mike.

[Mike L]

And they aren't all Geordies, either: I can't remember what to call
the others, and certainly not how the line is drawn. I can't even do
"Kentish" and "of Kent".

--
Mike.

[Evan Kirshenbaum]

Joe Fineman <jo...@verizon.net> writes:

> Robert Bannister <rob...@bigpond.com> writes:
>
>> On 24/07/12 7:34 AM, Cheryl wrote:
>>
>>> Once old enough to dress unassisted, young people never dress for
>>> the weather. I live near a high school, a junior high school and a
>>> university, and have lost count of the people I've seen wearing
>>> shorts or ripped jeans or short skirts in a snowstorm. They don't
>>> wear boots, or anything on their heads or hands either.
>>
>> The main thing is how they are completely unaffected by the weather.
>> Those few that do wear jumpers (sweaters) or coats will also keep
>> them on when it is 35° (95°F).
>
> The remark my father used to make about such people (no doubt handed
> down in his family since time immemorial) was "Where there's no sense,
> there's no feeling".

Mine says the same, but abbreviated: "No sense, no feeling".

I see it (in the longer form) called an "old saying" in the _British
Journal_ in the first half of 1853.

--
Evan Kirshenbaum +------------------------------------
Still with HP Labs |"Revolution" has many definitions.
SF Bay Area (1982-) |From the looks of this, I'd say
Chicago (1964-1982) |"going around in circles" comes
|closest to applying...
evan.kir...@gmail.com | Richard M. Hartman

http://www.kirshenbaum.net/

[Robert Bannister]

On 25/07/12 3:57 AM, Mark Brader wrote:
> Joe Fineman:
>> In America, I have encountered the tennis court as a unit of area.
>> Much more common, however, is the football field (=100 yd) as a unit
>> of length.
>
> That's *one* use of it. Russ Rowlett has:
>
> # football field [1]
> # a common informal unit of distance in the United States and

> # Canada. Americans aren't quite agreed as to whether [snip]

> #
> # football field [2]
> # an informal unit of area in the United States and Canada.
> # Including the end zones, an American football field represents
> # an area of about 1.3223 acres or 0.535 hectare while the
> # Canadian football field has an area of 2.0145 acres or 0.815
> # hectare.
>

Most Australians would be familiar with the "football oval" which, being
oval in shape, might seem an illogical unit of area or even length. As
with American, Canadian and UK football, the actual size varies,
especially in the minds of the people who use the measurement.

Although Victoria is nominally the home of "Aussie Rules", the following
is from the site of the "Government of Western Australia: Department of
Sport and Recreation":

"The playing surface is oval in shape, between 135m and 185m long and
between 110m and 155m wide."

Perversely, most people, I believe, imagine the Melbourne Cricket Ground
when thinking of a football oval.
--
Robert Bannister

[Peter Moylan]

On 25/07/12 02:00, Vinny Burgoo wrote:
> In alt.usage.english, wrote:
>> pensive hamster <pensive...@hotmail.co.uk> wrote:
>
>>> as a unit of length. And olympic-sized swimming pools as a measure of
>>> volume.
>>
>> Until recently, it was more likely to be the dome of St Paul's.
>
> Or the Albert Hall.

Do they know how many holes it takes to fill the dome of St Paul's?

>
> The Register once tried to popularise the volume of Wales as a standard
> unit. It's 103,300,000 cubic furlongs or '196600000000 biblical
> letheks', whatever they are.
>
> www.theregister.co.uk/2007/08/24/vulture_central_standards/print.html
>


--

Peter Moylan, Newcastle, NSW, Australia. http://www.pmoylan.org
For an e-mail address, see my web page.

[John Holmes]

Robert Bannister wrote:

>
> Perversely, most people, I believe, imagine the Melbourne Cricket
> Ground when thinking of a football oval.

Why is that perverse? It was one of the first.

--
Regards
John
for mail: my initials plus a u e
at tpg dot com dot au

[Robin Bignall]

On Tue, 24 Jul 2012 17:06:24 -0700, Evan Kirshenbaum
<evan.kir...@gmail.com> wrote:

>Joe Fineman <jo...@verizon.net> writes:
>
>> Robert Bannister <rob...@bigpond.com> writes:
>>
>>> On 24/07/12 7:34 AM, Cheryl wrote:
>>>
>>>> Once old enough to dress unassisted, young people never dress for
>>>> the weather. I live near a high school, a junior high school and a
>>>> university, and have lost count of the people I've seen wearing
>>>> shorts or ripped jeans or short skirts in a snowstorm. They don't
>>>> wear boots, or anything on their heads or hands either.
>>>
>>> The main thing is how they are completely unaffected by the weather.
>>> Those few that do wear jumpers (sweaters) or coats will also keep

>>> them on when it is 35° (95°F).

>>
>> The remark my father used to make about such people (no doubt handed
>> down in his family since time immemorial) was "Where there's no sense,
>> there's no feeling".
>
>Mine says the same, but abbreviated: "No sense, no feeling".
>
>I see it (in the longer form) called an "old saying" in the _British
>Journal_ in the first half of 1853.

One of my father's, quite apposite for the prolificacy of spammers'
defences of their idiocies, is "Empty vessels make the most sound".

[Mike L]

On Wed, 25 Jul 2012 18:50:49 +1000, Peter Moylan
<inv...@peter.pmoylan.org.invalid> wrote:

>On 25/07/12 02:00, Vinny Burgoo wrote:
>> In alt.usage.english, wrote:
>>> pensive hamster <pensive...@hotmail.co.uk> wrote:
>>
>>>> as a unit of length. And olympic-sized swimming pools as a measure of
>>>> volume.
>>>
>>> Until recently, it was more likely to be the dome of St Paul's.
>>
>> Or the Albert Hall.
>
>Do they know how many holes it takes to fill the dome of St Paul's?

Depends how massive they are. See also, on _Time Team_*, "substantial
trench".

Of course, the filling/being filled roles get reversed once a hole
gets really really massive.

*A very good archaeology lite programme on British Channel 4.

>
>>
>> The Register once tried to popularise the volume of Wales as a standard
>> unit. It's 103,300,000 cubic furlongs or '196600000000 biblical
>> letheks', whatever they are.
>>
>> www.theregister.co.uk/2007/08/24/vulture_central_standards/print.html
>>

--

Mike.

[Robert Bannister]

On 25/07/12 5:56 PM, John Holmes wrote:
> Robert Bannister wrote:
>
>>
>> Perversely, most people, I believe, imagine the Melbourne Cricket
>> Ground when thinking of a football oval.
>
> Why is that perverse? It was one of the first.
>

You don't think calling the best-known football oval by a cricketing
name funny? Sorry, but I do.

--
Robert Bannister

[pensive hamster]

Olympic-sized swimming pools are still going strong, but someone at
the BBC has come up with a new measure: doormats ...
___________________
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-18983010
It's been a taxing few days. Advisers who promote "aggressive tax
avoidance" have been berated by the British government. Meanwhile a
new report claims there could be $21tn (£13.5tn) stored away worldwide
in offshore accounts.

The mind can't comprehend the amount. If it was denominated in $1
bills, it would fill nearly 10,000 Olympic-sized swimming pools.
Provided the pools were empty and that it was possible to provide
enough security personnel to guard all of the pools. (It would
probably be better to use the Army and police rather than a private
security firm.)

Put another way, 21 trillion seconds ago, the world was 600,000 years
younger and experiencing the Lower Palaeolithic period. This was the
time of Homo Heidelbergensis, one of mankind's early ancestors.

Archaeologists say Heidelbergensis was in some ways quite advanced,
with rudimentary language and, maybe, a habit of burying the dead.

But they were also extremely primitive. There is a lot of evidence to
suggest he had not yet discovered the ability to measure large
quantities of anything in terms of how many Olympic-sized swimming
pools would be filled - a skill we would regard as essential now.
___________________



___________________
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7980209.stm

Understanding one trillion

The US deficit is well over $1tn, but how big is that? Use this guide
to put the number in context.

If the area of a doormat is equal to one, the total area of the United
Kingdom is a trillion times bigger - 1,000,000,000,000

Doormat area: 0.24 sq m
United Kingdom total land area: 244,820 sq km
___________________


--
Greetings from the land of a trillion doormats

[Peter Duncanson [BrE]]

On Mon, 23 Jul 2012 00:15:39 -0700 (PDT), Guy Barry
<guy....@blueyonder.co.uk> wrote:

>"It's been revealed that the UK Border Agency has a backlog of cases
>equivalent to the population of Newcastle-upon-Tyne." (BBC Radio 4
>8am news bulletin)
>
>Does this sort of comparison help anyone to understand the scale of
>the problem? I had to look up the population of Newcastle-upon-Tyne -
>it's 280,200 for the metropolitan borough and city area. Or
>880,000 for the whole Tyneside conurbation. Or 1,093,400 for the
>former metropolitan county of Tyne and Wear, or 1,650,000 for the

>"Tyne and Wear City Region" (whatever that is).

>
>Why not simply state the number explicitly?

A headline in the Belfast Telegraph today:

She's only 11 years old but this little golfer hit a monster 237
yards (that's the quivalent of 24 double-decker buses, 200 golf
clubs or 2 1/2 footbal pitches)


--
Peter Duncanson, UK
(in alt.usage.english)

[Ian Jackson]

In message <ipm218ptn7f0son8l...@4ax.com>, "Peter
Duncanson [BrE]" <ma...@peterduncanson.net> writes

That's to be sure to be sure to be sure you understand what 237 yards
are like. ;o))
--
Ian

[Peter Duncanson [BrE]]

The typos are mine.

>That's to be sure to be sure to be sure you understand what 237 yards
>are like. ;o))

Ah. You are fluent in stage Irish.

[Ian Jackson]

In message <i0s218psksvpj66rb...@4ax.com>, "Peter

To be sure, Oi am, sor, begorrah.
--
Ian

[Mike L]

On Thu, 26 Jul 2012 19:02:30 +0100, Ian Jackson

Ah, then we now know which Dublin theatre you learned your trade in.
The classic contrast, you'll remember, was between "Fbqbz" naq
"Ortbeenu"

--
Mike.

[R H Draney]

pensive hamster filted:

>
>Olympic-sized swimming pools are still going strong, but someone at
>the BBC has come up with a new measure: doormats ...
>___________________
>

>Understanding one trillion
>
>The US deficit is well over $1tn, but how big is that? Use this guide
>to put the number in context.
>
>If the area of a doormat is equal to one, the total area of the United
>Kingdom is a trillion times bigger - 1,000,000,000,000
>
> Doormat area: 0.24 sq m
> United Kingdom total land area: 244,820 sq km
>___________________

The Japanese must be chuffed about this obvious attempt by the West to adopt
something resembling the "tatami" (bamboo mat), long used to express the size of
rooms....

It's a shame that it's clearly meant more to illustrate the size of a trillion
than of any particular area....r


--
Me? Sarcastic?
Yeah, right.

[Peter Moylan]

On 26/07/12 23:06, pensive hamster wrote:

> ___________________
> http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7980209.stm
>
> Understanding one trillion
>
> The US deficit is well over $1tn, but how big is that? Use this guide
> to put the number in context.
>
> If the area of a doormat is equal to one, the total area of the United
> Kingdom is a trillion times bigger - 1,000,000,000,000
>
> Doormat area: 0.24 sq m
> United Kingdom total land area: 244,820 sq km
> ___________________
>
>
> --
> Greetings from the land of a trillion doormats

That makes me think of the street of a thousand armpits.