LogFAQs > #979013925

BlueKat posted...

I wonder if they use "mileage" in France--they really hate American slang corrupting their language

I don't think they care, because MILLE, was Latin to begin with.

The Latin word also is the source of French mille, Italian miglio, Spanish milla. The Scandinavian words (Old Norse mila, etc.) are from English. An ancient Roman mile was 1,000 double paces (one step with each foot), for about 4,860 feet, but many local variants developed, in part in an attempt to reconcile the mile with the agricultural system of measurements. Consequently, old European miles were of various lengths. The medieval English mile was 6,610 feet; the old London mile was 5,000 feet. In Germany, Holland, and Scandinavia in the Middle Ages, the Latin word was applied arbitrarily to the ancient Germanic rasta, a measure of from 3.25 to 6 English miles. In England the ordinary mile was set by legal act at 320 perches (5,280 feet) by statute in Elizabeth's reign.

France had more ownership of MILE than Americans do. So it shouldn't be a big deal. You act like the Imperial system wasn't intrinsic in European culture for a thousand years.