Temat: Zimbabwe introduces 100 billion dollar note:

Zimbabwe introduces Z$100bn note:

Zimbabwe is to introduce a bank-note worth Z$100bn in response to rampant inflation - but the note will barely cover the cost of two loaves of bread.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7515823.stm

Do you remember the currency change in Poland in the early nineties?

Does anyone remember decimalisation in the U.K.?warren whitmore edytował(a) ten post dnia 20.07.08 o godzinie 01:19

Temat: Zimbabwe introduces 100 billion dollar note:

warren whitmore:
Zimbabwe introduces Z$100bn note:

Zimbabwe is to introduce a bank-note worth Z$100bn in response to rampant inflation - but the note will barely cover the cost of two loaves of bread.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7515823.stm

Do you remember the currency change in Poland in the early nineties?

Does anyone remember decimalisation in the U.K.?warren whitmore edytował(a) ten post dnia 20.07.08 o godzinie 01:19

Hmmm if I went there I'd be an overnight billionaire :)

Temat: Zimbabwe introduces 100 billion dollar note:

Does anyone remember decimalisation in the U.K.?[edited]warren

Of course I don't, but decimalisation was not a result of hyperinflation (luckily the UK economy has never been so bad).

In France I sometimes found old people quoting prices in millions of francs, and then I realised that they were thinking about a time before a few zeros had been knocked off. They must have been geriatrics regressing back to better times in their life as the revalution of the franc had happened something like 20 years earlier.

Temat: Zimbabwe introduces 100 billion dollar note:

About 7 years ago I have been to Belarus. There was awesome currency and money (people call it zaichiki - little hases)
and e.g. 1 loaf of bread costed smth like 1 350 000 :)).
Also I remember Russian times in 90s. Also the same when you all were billionaires.

Temat: Zimbabwe introduces 100 billion dollar note:

Steven H.:

Does anyone remember decimalisation in the U.K.?[edited]warren

Of course I don't, but decimalisation was not a result of hyperinflation (luckily the UK economy has never been so bad).

I'm old enough to remember decimalisation.

Would you know what a 'ten bob bit' is?

How much is an old sixpence in decimal money?

What was half a crown?

Temat: Zimbabwe introduces 100 billion dollar note:

warren whitmore:

Steven H.:

I'm old enough to remember decimalisation.

Would you know what a 'ten bob bit' is?

How much is an old sixpence in decimal money?

What was half a crown?

I never know how much money is involved behind the coins (?) you have mentioned above. Dictionaries will give the Polish terms, but this doesn't help too much.
Well, some people say that Brussels had to decimalise your currency because they couldn't stand the way the British used very vague terms in a precise way all the time. :)
Personally, I find it being a serious obstacle when reading English literature.
Do you think a foreigner can learn and understand the old system?
I would appreciate if you could tell us what the above units really meant.
Going metric is even worse. How shall people in the future understand your famous sayings that incorporate non-metric measurements, such as:
'Give him an inch and he'll take a yard.'
'A miss is as good as a mile.' etc
I also find it hard to remember how much a stone, an inch, a mile or a furlong are. Maybe it's my memory that needs help - I don't know.Michał B. edytował(a) ten post dnia 20.07.08 o godzinie 11:23

Temat: Zimbabwe introduces 100 billion dollar note:

Michał B.:

warren whitmore:

Steven H.:

I'm old enough to remember decimalisation.

Would you know what a 'ten bob bit' is?

How much is an old sixpence in decimal money?

What was half a crown?

I never know how much money is involved behind the coins (?) you have mentioned above. Dictionaries will give the Polish terms, but this doesn't help too much.
Well, some people say that Brussels had to decimalise your currency because they couldn't stand the way the British used very vague terms in a precise way all the time. :)
Personally, I find it being a serious obstacle when reading English literature.
Do you think a foreigner can learn and understand the old system?
I would appreciate if you could tell us what the above units really meant.

Under the old system there were 12 pence to a shilling and 20 shillings to a pound.

Sixpence is 2 1/2 pence in decimal money. It was called a 'tanner'.

'Bob' was a shilling (5p). 'Ten bob' is 50p. When I was a child people still used these terms even after decimalisation.

'Half a crown' was 2 1/2 shillings. 12 1/2 new pence.

At the time this kind of money actually meant something.

A guinea was a pound and a shilling.

Going metric is even worse. How shall people in the future understand your famous sayings that incorporate non-metric measurements, such as:
'Give him an inch and he'll take a yard.'
'A miss is as good as a mile.' etc
I also find it hard to remember how much a stone, an inch, a mile or a furlong are. Maybe it's my memory that needs help - I don't know.

I'm part of the generation caught between the metric system and imperial measurements.

I'm not entirely competent in either.

I was taught metric, but think imperial.

Therefore my height is 6 foot 1 1/2 inches, my weight is something around 15 stone and so on.

You can't escape such measurements even in Poland. For example TV screens are still measured in inches.

Temat: Zimbabwe introduces 100 billion dollar note:

Warren, thanks a lot for the explanation. You can be sure that I'll now copy it out and refer to it whenever I encounter one of these terms. Very helpful indeed.
None of my English teachers ever tried to teach us so that we could understand the old monetary system in your country.

I imagine that this transition from the imperial to metric measurements must be particularly difficult for those who were brought up in the world that used the former ones. How can you force an old lady to use "a kilo of apples" if she's spent most of her life saying, e.g. "Just over three-quarters of a pound of apples" or "The best part of a pound of apples, please".

Now, I'll try to work out your weight in kilos if you don't mind...Michał B. edytował(a) ten post dnia 20.07.08 o godzinie 12:29

Temat: Zimbabwe introduces 100 billion dollar note:

When I was leaving Poland a book was about 60 000zl, my mom at the time was making around 2 mil a month and I remember those ridiculous bills... I think the 10 000zl was purplish pink or something to that effect.

Is this the new currency

Temat: Zimbabwe introduces 100 billion dollar note:

The best way to get adapted to a new system is to live in a country where everyone uses it. I can't figure out what exactly a 73 degree temperature is in Celsius (I've check with a converter and it's about 23), but I know it's pleasantly warm. I learned to cook and bake most dishes in the States, and the oven temperatures still get me; same for measures - I still have my cup&spoon measures, and my friends have long ago stopped asking me for recipes.

Temat: Zimbabwe introduces 100 billion dollar note:

Michał B.:

I imagine that this transition from the imperial to metric measurements must be particularly difficult for those who were brought up in the world that used the former ones. How can you force an old lady to use "a kilo of apples" if she's spent most of her life saying, e.g. "Just over three-quarters of a pound of apples" or "The best part of a pound of apples, please".

When I moved from imperial-land to metricsville, I wanted to buy a pound of mushrooms, and I azsked for a pound of mushrooms. The seller was very confused (obviously, he had never had his scales set to pounds) and said he didn't know what I meant. This was my first day in a foreign country, and I froze as well, until my friend said "Keith, they use kilos here", so I ordered a kilo of mushrooms. Far too many.
A useful hint for people who want to convert. There's a reason that tins of vegetables come in 454g sizes, and there's a reason that a large beer (0.5l) leaves a little bit of the glass empty at the top.

Temat: Zimbabwe introduces 100 billion dollar note:

My fixed salary in the year 2000 was 1.100.000.000 (one billion hundred million) Turkish Liras.
Then they threw away 6 zeros from Turkish Lira 2-3 years ago.

Temat: Zimbabwe introduces 100 billion dollar note:

Tatiana S.:
The best way to get adapted to a new system is to live in a country where everyone uses it. I can't figure out what exactly a 73 degree temperature is in Celsius (I've check with a converter and it's about 23), but I know it's pleasantly warm. I learned to cook and bake most dishes in the States, and the oven temperatures still get me; same for measures - I still have my cup&spoon measures, and my friends have long ago stopped asking me for recipes.

I am so not looking forward to converting back to metric.