The metric system – what a proud achievement of the human race. Its elegance, consistency, utility. If your country hasn’t adopted it as its measurement standard, what are you waiting for?
There is one minor problem though. It’s not with the system itself, but with a popular pronunciation of just one word. The word is kilometre. It is not a “kill-AW-meh-ter”, it’s a “KILL-oh-mee-ter”.
How did this happen?
Canada started using the metric system in the early 70s. I remember the strange updates to road signs, and the new textbooks emblazoned with this logo:
The adjustment wasn’t easy. Was it just me, or did metric seem smaller at first? A mile is bigger than a kilometre. A centimeter is smaller than an inch. When it was 80° F outside, it was only 27° C. Sure, a kilogram is bigger than a pound, but stores sell many things by the pitiful gram (that sandwich has 100 g of bologna? how can you lift it?). Depending on your age and where you live (esp. whether you live near the US border), there may still be some old units you are more comfortable with. Even today, I don’t know my own height in centimetres – I’m 5’7″ dammit.
But everyone gets the kilometre. From car dashboards to roadsigns, the kilometre is everywhere. So why is the most successful of the metric units the one that is most mispronounced? I blame this guy:
Predating the metric system is a pronunciation pattern for naming measuring devices. Thermometer: a meter that measures thermal heat. Speedometer: a meter that measures speed. The pattern is:
- take your prefix, make it end the letter O
- put the accent on that O, make it rhyme with AW
- tack on the “-meh-ter” part.
The word kilometre appears to fit this pattern. But a kilometre is not a measuring device. The prefix kilo does end with the letter O, but it ends with metre, not meter. The “thermometer pattern” doesn’t apply.
Consistency
The beauty of the metric system is its consistency. You may know how many ounces are in a pound, but it doesn’t help if you need to know how many feet are in a mile. Because of the consistency of the metric system, even if you do not know what a joule is, you know there are a thousand of them in a kilojoule.
Do you apply the “thermometer pattern” to any other prefixed metric units?
- kilogram: Do you pronounce it “kill-AW-grum”?
- kilopasacal: Should the forecast say “the pressure today is 101.7 “kill-AW-pass-kulls”?
- gigawatt: Does Doc Brown lament the difficulty in generating “1.21 gig-AW-wuts”?
- I hear you asking: What about the “one point twenty-one”, part or the “jigga”? – that’s for another blog post!
No? Then for the sake of the gods of consistency please pronounce it “KILL-oh-mee-ter”. It is awkward at first, yes – but you will get used to it. Kinda like the metric system itself.
There. I feel better.