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submitted 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago) by brbposting@sh.itjust.works to c/196@lemmy.blahaj.zone

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It blows our hivemind that the United States doesn't use the ISO 216 paper size standard (A4, A5 and the gang).

Like, we consider ourselves worldly people and are aware of America's little idiosyncrasies like mass incarceration, the widespread availability of assault weapons and not being able to transfer money via your banking app, but come on - look how absolutely great it is to be European:

The American mind cannot comprehend this diagram

[Diagram of paper sizes as listed below]

ISO 216 A series papers formats

Et.

Instead, Americans prostrate themselves to bizarrely-named paper types of seemingly random size: Letter, Legal, Tabloid (Ledger) and all other types of sordid nonsense. We're not even going to include a picture because this is a family-friendly finance blog.

Source: Financial Times

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[-] riodoro1@lemmy.world 18 points 6 months ago

PC LOAD LETTER? the fuck does that mean!?

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[-] HulkSmashBurgers@reddthat.com 18 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago)

The US also doesn't officially use the metric system sigh.

[-] Stovetop@lemmy.world 16 points 6 months ago

The US officially uses the metric system...to define the US customary system of measurements.

E.g. 1 foot is defined as 0.3048 meters.

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[-] bluewing@lemm.ee 15 points 6 months ago

Yes, yes we DO use the metric system officially. In the early 1970's the metric system was made the official standard for weights and measures.

What we didn't do was force everyone to use it at 3:11AM 11/21/1974. It was decided to take a longer approach and let the change happen naturally and it has happened.

Everything in the grocery store is marked with metric weights and volumes. We buy butter by the gram, soda pop by the liter and whisk(e)y buy the milliliter. And everyone is looking for that same missing 10mm socket/wrench. (Where does do those things go anyway?)

How much more metric do we really need to adopt?

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[-] Lucidlethargy@sh.itjust.works 17 points 6 months ago

Lol, people find the silliest things to be angry and indignant about.

[-] Prunebutt@slrpnk.net 10 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago)

I guess someone never used ISO 216.

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[-] nifty@lemmy.world 16 points 6 months ago

I am just grateful paper isn’t measured in hands

[-] probablynaked@lemmy.world 15 points 6 months ago

What the fuck, that was way more hilarious than a blog post about financial securities messaging ought to have been

[-] MelodiousFunk@slrpnk.net 14 points 6 months ago

Relevant CGP Grey

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[-] UntitledQuitting@reddthat.com 14 points 6 months ago

1.414, the magic number.

[-] beefbot@lemmy.blahaj.zone 14 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago)

Not-super-fun fact: an 8.5 x 11 inch paper can be useful if you lack a ruler in an American office & you need to measure an inch or a foot.

If you fold the paper like in an image I'll try to attach, the hypotenuse is 12.01 inches.

Edit: then you fold the 12.01 inch side against the 11 inch side to get a 1.01 inch measurement

Not exact, but good enough if you need to know your neck size to buy a fancy shirt online - not that I would ever waste my corporation’s time that way!