FreeLists / si-list / [SI-LIST] Re: Mil or Mils?

["Chris Padilla \(cpad\)" <cpad@xxxxxxxxx>]

Ah, most excellent, Rich!  I guess as soon as we move away from the
metric system, everything falls apart! ;o)  Great observation!

Cheers,

Chris=20

-----Original Message-----
From: Richard Feldman [mailto:rfeldman@xxxxxxxxxxx]=20
Sent: Monday, June 04, 2007 1:11 PM
To: Chris Padilla (cpad); si-list@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: RE: [SI-LIST] Mil or Mils?

Chris,
I respectfully disagree, but don't want to burden the whole list.
On second thought, why not?

While mm is the standard SI symbol (not abbreviation) for millimeter,
mil is neither a symbol nor an abbreviation for milliinch.
(When's the last time you read or heard anyone say milliinch?) Mil is
the name of a unit of length, like foot or mile or a crude machinists'
synonym for mil.  As such, IMHO it is proper to pluralize it by
appending the letter s.  Like giving the nominal length of an American
football field as 100 yards, not 100 yard.

Rich

p.s. Although PWB fabrication drawings are unlikely to be good
references for grammar or symbology, at least they generally give
dimensions formally in inches or millimeters.  Where "MIL" appears, it's
usually in the citation of a military specification. :-)

-----Original Message-----
From: si-list-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:si-list-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]
On Behalf Of Chris Padilla (cpad)
Sent: Monday, June 04, 2007 11:35 AM
To: si-list@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [SI-LIST] Mil or Mils?

Off-topic to the "matching within 1 mil" stuff, I think I see a lot of
misuse of the unit "mil" when it is written down.

As I understand it, the unit is abbreviated: mil

So when writing it down, it should be like: "..we match within 100 mil
but the CAD guys says 10 mil is just fine..."

When you read it, you will say it with an 's' on the end but if it is
used as a unit, it shouldn't be made plural.

After all, we don't write five millimeters as "5 mms".  We write "5 mm"
and say it in our heads or outloud as: "Five millimeters".

Ah, okay, I said my piece...so peace! ;o)

Chris Padilla
Cisco Systems
San Jose, CA
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