Below zero temperatures in America

[Auldlangsyne]

Negative 9, negative 11, these are the temperatures in two places in the US. I have just heard it on the news, and would probably not query it if the temperatures described as ‘negative’ were without any digits, just negative – sub-zero.

Is ‘negative 9’ interchangeable with ‘minus 9’ in America?

There is no question of understanding the ‘negative 9’, it’s just something I have never come across, and not so sure I can use it. Probably yes, as it was reported by a pro, but I would rather say that the temperatures of minus 9 were recorded. ‘Negative 9’ sounds a bit odd to me.

 

[Tarheel]

In the United States we use the Fahreinheit scale. Zero degrees Fahreinheit is minus 17.777 degrees Celsius. Minus nine degrees Fahreinheit is minus 22.77 degrees Celsius (Centigrade). I believe negative is the same as minus here. (Like you, I am not used to "negative" in this context.)

 

[MikeNewYork]

I am also more familiar with "minus" temperatures, although "negative" does occur. We also hear "below zero" or sometimes just "below". Last night it was 15 below.

 

[Tarheel]

Actually, to be precise, zero degrees Fahreinheit in Celsius is minus 17.777777777777 (to infinity).
;-)

 

[Rover_KE]

'To infinity?'

Let's not go there.

 

[Jill Dorchester]

Suffice to say, here in Michigan we've hit below zero temperature records in the past few days. In other words, it's freakin' COLD! :shocked!:

 

[MikeNewYork]

It was minus 10 in Chicago last week.

 

[SoothingDave]

'To infinity?'

Let's not go there.

And beyond!!!

 

[Auldlangsyne]

The general rule for rounding is that if the number is followed by 5 to 9 then we round up where we want to stop leaving the last (preceding) digit alone. In the above case of 17.777, it would have been 17.778 as the actual temperature was 17.7777 (the sequence continues ad infinitum).

I am not being pedantic, nor am I obsessive about digits, and noticed it instantly, but making grammar errors myself (nerve-wracking comma) I did not feel it would have been right to correct.

Having said that, I am chuffed to bits that I could read some additional interesting comments which always help in learning more than you’ll ever know.

BTW, those blizzard conditions now swept in from the Atlantic to some parts of northern England. It is usually the west part of the UK so wet as there are mountains (The Pennines) which separate North-West from North-East, forms kind of a natural barrier and catch some flurries. But it hasn’t been as bad as in the US, and we often have alerts with a layer of just a few millimetres of snow which puts a smile on my face (well, better to be safe than sorry).

Britain has gone metric, but some still (rarely) use Fahrenheit, even though it's been half a century now, and on some websites you can or have to choose between F and C. You are lucky to only have F over the pond.

Do people stick to imperial units in the US when they state their height or weight, like in most cases in the UK?

 

[SoothingDave]

Fahrenheit is superior for everyday use because the range from 0 to 100 covers the normal experience of the typical person. 0 F is really cold. 100 F is really hot. The rest of life typically falls somewhere in between.

Americans use the customary, traditional "English" measures for just about everything in everyday life. We use feet and inches for height. Pounds for weight (we never got into stones for that). Miles for distances. Ounces and pints and quarts and gallons for volume.

In certain areas you do see metric measures, like medicines. You buy painkiller tablets that are 500 mg.

And beverages like soda pop come in 2 liter bottles. Though I suspect that transition was eased because 2 liters is a little more than 2 US quarts. It was like getting a little bit extra. You can also find 1 liter and half liter bottles of water or pop. But you also find 20 ounce bottles that are bigger than a half liter or pint. Or 24 ounce bottles.

Milk is sold by the gallon and half gallon. Ice cream is traditionally sold by the half gallon as well, though those containers have shrunken to 1.75 or 1.5 quarts, instead of 2.

 

[Auldlangsyne]

That’s very useful to have that scale between 0 and 100, never thought of that. There is a conversion formula which I use: F = 9/5C +32. (I am stumped by all the conversions.) Celsius, on the other hand has its benefits too, showing both freezing and boiling point, which work for imagination as well. Good job the Kelvin scale is left for scientists.

I think that when someone says “pint” in the UK it usually refers to beer, as I cannot recall any such unit from the grocery store. I learned the other week a unit not known to me before - pint' stowp. And this is what it says on the website dedicated to one of the poems by Robert Burns:
“A pint-stowp was a tin measure of two-quarts – half an (imperial) gallon, enough to get anyone going for the night.“

Someone once told me: “For distances in the US, on highways, we use days, and not miles”

Stones are commonly used, and again, there is always an option to choose from kg or st/lb, when it comes to check BMI.
At a petrol station I buy petrol by litres, but a friend of mine asked me about my car's fuel usage in gallons/mile. It is all very confusing. Sounds like it is best to learn both metric and imperial units to avoid frustration. The problem is that some people only state a number.

Does soda pop refer to all carbonated drinks, like coke, pepsi and tonic? When you say only soda, or a pop, does it still mean the same? In the UK I need to be more specific when ask for a fizzy drink, actually for any soft drink.

 

[Grumpy]

It's something of an exaggeration to say that "Britain has gone metric" - unless you are referring to the measurement of temperature, and our coinage. Otherwise, we muddle along happily with a mixture of Metric and Imperial scales in most areas.
We measure distance in miles and nautical miles, together with metres, centimetres and millimetres. Anyone over the age of 45 still uses yards, feet and inches. Almost no-one outside the military uses kilometres.
Shop-keepers are forbidden to sell goods weighed in Imperial measures, but we still buy our milk and our beer in pints (568 ml), and we ask the Butcher for "a couple of pounds of sausages" - which he will duly weigh out in Kg.
Our petrol comes from the pumps in litres, but we still measure its consumption in "miles per gallon" - although anyone below the age of 40 or so would probably struggle to tell you what a gallon is!

Pardon me for a moment while I contemplate a world in which one buys ice cream by the half gallon....... Aaaaaah.

Where was I? Oh, yes: whilst I tend to be conservative in my attitudes to most changes, I actually much prefer having temperature measured in degrees Celsius. Water freezes at zero degrees for the ice in my gin (never, ever, put ice in your whisky) , and boils for my tea at 100 degrees. Simples!

 

[SoothingDave]

Pardon me for a moment while I contemplate a world in which one buys ice cream by the half gallon....... Aaaaaah.

http://www.samsclub.com/sams/delicious-neapolitan-ice-cream-5-qt-pail/161599.ip

If you have a big freezer, or a big family, you can buy it in 5 quart containers!

 

[SoothingDave]

At a petrol station I buy petrol by litres, but a friend of mine asked me about my car's fuel usage in gallons/mile.

Miles per gallon, that is (or "mpg"). So a bigger number is better for economy. My car is supposed to get 20 mpg city, but I am lucky to get 17.

(Note that the "gallon" is different between US and UK.)

 

[Auldlangsyne]

It's something of an exaggeration to say that "Britain has gone metric" - unless you are referring to the measurement of temperature, and our coinage. Otherwise, we muddle along happily with a mixture of Metric and Imperial scales in most areas.
We measure distance in miles and nautical miles, together with metres, centimetres and millimetres. Anyone over the age of 45 still uses yards, feet and inches. Almost no-one outside the military uses kilometres.
Shop-keepers are forbidden to sell goods weighed in Imperial measures, but we still buy our milk and our beer in pints (568 ml), and we ask the Butcher for "a couple of pounds of sausages" - which he will duly weigh out in Kg.
Our petrol comes from the pumps in litres, but we still measure its consumption in "miles per gallon" - although anyone below the age of 40 or so would probably struggle to tell you what a gallon is!

Pardon me for a moment while I contemplate a world in which one buys ice cream by the half gallon....... Aaaaaah.

Where was I? Oh, yes: whilst I tend to be conservative in my attitudes to most changes, I actually much prefer having temperature measured in degrees Celsius. Water freezes at zero degrees for the ice in my gin (never, ever, put ice in your whisky), and boils for my tea at 100 degrees. Simples!

This is partly true, elderly do not cope so well, find it harder to adopt the new system, while children are more able to learn, but the truth is also that people generally do not like changes. I don’t, and I am not surprised at all, that there quite a lot supporters of the old units. Pint is almost a synonym of beer, and even a good time at a pub. I wouldn’t like the idea of changing that. But the decision, foolishly or not, was made in 1965, and that’s the fact. From that time Britain has officially gone metric.

Prices cannot be displayed for either kg or lb because customers would be tricked into thinking that they are paying less. Cider and beer – yes, but milk not everywhere. I have never bought milk by pints. Well, ice-cream by gallons, and not scoops that would be an exaggeration, indeed. Going to the Butcher’s is not so common nowadays, and I personally always by sausages packed and displayed at a supermarket per item in a pack.

As I pointed it out, I see the benefits of using C temp., but also like the idea of F temp. (when out), kindly described above by SD.

I totally agree about whisky. Small army of people try to create a unique flavour, only to get it ruined by added water/ice. On the other hand, during the production process the water is the most important ingredient. Funny – where “scotch on the rocks” come from then? Any idea?

 

[SoothingDave]

Does soda pop refer to all carbonated drinks, like coke, pepsi and tonic? When you say only soda, or a pop, does it still mean the same?

Yes, it's all the same thing. "Pop" and "soda" are different words that refer to the same thing. There are geographical variations throughout the US. People on the coasts say "soda" while those in the interior are more likely to say "pop." Then there are people in the south who call any fizzy soft drink "coke."

 

[Grumpy]

"Cider and beer – yes, but milk not everywhere. I have never bought milk by pints. "

Dear Auldlangsyne,

I bet you have bought milk in pint measures: you just haven't realised it at the time. Next time you are in a British supermarket, take a close look at the smallest of the plastic bottles of milk on sale, and you will see that they are actually marked "568 ml" and "1 pint".

There are two elements to the phrase "Scotch on the rocks". The word "Scotch" came into use in the 18th century, meaning no more or less than simply "Scottish". It fell out of general use in that context by the mid-19th century, but continued as a synonym for Scottish whisky. I don't know who invented the phrase "on the rocks" as an alternative, picturesque, way of saying "served with ice", but I think we are probably stuck with it for a while yet.

 

[Auldlangsyne]

You are right Grumby. I have just checked at my store and indeed, they do milk bottles both 1l/500ml – which I always buy, and they also sell by pints which I have never noticed. Some labels are marked with both l/ml and pt.

From what I have seen on the Internet “On the rocks” in the past had nothing to do with ice, but with pebbles from the Scottish rivers which would cool whiskey without diluting it. Sounds about right but I am not an expert.

 

[Rover_KE]

An expert would know that Scotch whisky is spelt without an e.

 

[Auldlangsyne]

An expert would know that Scotch whisky is spelt without an e.

This is very interesting to know, thank you for pointing it out. I have never thought that one would first have to define the whereabouts before using this term. I could never remember which spelling was right and thought it did not matter. However, I did some research this morning and could not find any explanation based in indisputable facts. There’s been many arguments as to the use of this extra e over the years.