Inches are evil. Fractional evil, but pure evil.

OK, the page trim is 5.5 inches in width, the left and right margins are each six-eighths of an inch, and there’s a quarter-inch gutter—quick, what is the text width?

On the other hand, if the trim width is 140 millimeters, the right and left margins are 20 millimeters each (140 – 40) and the gutter is set to 6 millimeters—quick, the text width is 94 millimeters. Piece of soup.

“Bahhhhhhhrain,” the news announcers say.

“Beijzzzing,” they call China’s capital.

“Pakiston,” they say, not Pakistan. It’s spelled with an A but pronounced with a short O.

“Cheee-laaay,” comes a chilly voice that pretends to have a Chilean accent. (2019 update to an older blog post.)

I’m not saying it’s a bad thing to try to pronounce place names the way they are by the people that live there, but it is a definite jump in inconsistency.