Dayenu

Anybody knows if in Australia comma is used to separate dollars from pennies? Example: $300.00 or $300,00 in Australia?

tt7

No, it is not - $300.00

Dayenu

Scroll down a little in this link, they have 2 lists: with dots and with commas.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decimal_mark

Melnq8

Austria does apparently, but Australia doesn't.

I've only seen the comma used in Switzerland, Indonesia and the Middle East.

di2315

Your first example is common usage down here, if you are meaning an amount of three hundred dollars. Di

Susan7

The comma is also used in Brazil, Uruguay and Argentina.

annhig

Dayenu - the comma tends to be used in "european" currencies, as opposed to british-based ones.

so it's €200,00 but £200.00.

for bigger amounts, €200.000 but £200,000

no idea why!

Dayenu

I know why - to confuse us all

Susan7

It's like the date thing, I always get confused with North American dates where the month comes before the day.

Bokhara2

I agree, Susan77, can be confusing.
Everyone else uses dd/mm/yy, don't they?

If I'm writing in international space, I always use the name of the month so people don't have to work out whether I'm talking about January or June etc.

Melnq8

It confuses me too, especially switching back and forth as often as we do. I tend to spell out the month like Bokhara does.

Same with the metric system. I almost need a calculator when I bake because my recipes are written in "American"

It's like mental gymnastics when I have to figure out how much one stick of butter is from a 250 gram chunk (113 grams give or take). I never have figured out the difference between Aussie cups and US cups, I just punt. I've even started weighing things. What's happening to me?

I still can't grasp centigrade though. I know that 30c is hot and 35c is bloody hot, but I have to look at my cheat sheet to translate to Fahrenheit. I have a cheat sheet taped on my oven too.

What can I say, I think in imperial units. It's a hard habit to break.

Bokhara2

Some things are easier than others to adopt aren't they?
I have a cheat sheet stuck up in my kitchen too, Melnq8. I use a few American and some old Australian recipes that are in Imperial & I've pretty much forgotten that.

But ask me how tall I am & I'm more likely to tell you 5'5" than 165cm. When they're talking about a 183cm individual (usually some crook), it takes a while for it to sink in that he's 6' tall.

Weight seems mostly to be expressed in lbs/pounds in the US, whereas we (and the Brits) used stones & lbs/pounds in our pre-decimal days.
So when the Americans are talking about someone being xxx pounds, I'm dividing by 2.2 to bring it to kgs or by 14 for stone & lbs, to get a picture.

I've never known what a "stick of butter" weighed, so thanks for the 113g conversion. I've always just looked at the other ingredients & winged it with what I thought would be the right proportion.

Ah well, keeps our brains agile, I guess.

But yes, when we're talking dates off our own patch, it is helpful to the poor sods trying to give useful information to use the name of the month.

And use the currency of the country we're asking about. If I'm asking about accommodation costs in Germany, there's not much point asking for " Hotels under AUD 100". If I'm too lazy to do the AUD/Euro conversion, why should the Germans do it for me?

Melnq8

A pound of butter is four sticks, so four ounces per stick or roughly 113 grams. Sometimes I can't be bothered, so I just cut a 250 gram block in half. More butter is better right?

I have to admit, I much prefer hearing my weight in kilos...until I do the math. I can't ever remember what a stone is though, keep thinking it's 16 lbs. Of course I can't remember what I had for lunch either, so there you go.

Bokhara2

1 lb = 16 oz
1 stone = 14 lbs
1 kg= 2.2 lbs

1 hectare = 2.47 acres
1 mile = 1.6km

The saying goes that when Australia went decimal, our places moved twice the distance from town & became 1/3 the size.

So our 60,000 acres 40 miles from town became 24,000 ha nearly 80 kms from town.

annhig

22 yard = 4 rods =1 chain

Why does this matter?

ask any aussie or Brit. [or any cricket lover].

Susan7

I didn't realise the cup measures were different. Maybe that's why I've had a few not so great cakes using American recipes. Melnq8 let me know if you work out how to convert between cups and cups.

Melnq8

I just googled Susan - apparently a US cup = .95 of an Australian cup. A US cup is 8 ounces (236.58 ml) so I guess that makes an Aussie cup 224.75 ml. Arghhh. Too much math for me. I reckon a scant Aussie cup or a very full US cup would be close enough.

annhig

so long as you use the same proportions ie use aussie cups throughout, or ozs and lbs, or kilos and grammes, you should be ok.

it's when you try to mix them that you will get into trouble.

Susan7

Thanks Melnq8, I think I'll get a US set of cup measures next time I'm in the States. I was just reading the reviews of the Cake Bible on Amazon and it says a lot of those recipes need precise measures.

Melnq8

You might want to pick up a set of US measuring spoons too, Susan7. They're small, will fit into luggage easily. See how I made that travel related?

I get by with my US cups and spoons, haven't bought Aussie ones, but then again most of my recipes are from home.