Kilometre matters

Madam, - Why should we pronounce the word "kilometre" with the accent on the second syllable, and not on the first, as in decimetre…

Madam, - Why should we pronounce the word "kilometre" with the accent on the second syllable, and not on the first, as in decimetre, centimetre and millimetre? Full marks to Eileen Dunne of RTÉ for leading the way with the correct pronunciation. Let's get it right from now on. - Yours, etc.,

DICK WICKHAM, Raheny, Dublin 5.

Madam, - For the past week or so I have been reading and hearing about the metric change-over. One point being highlighted regularly is that on 90 per cent of our roads the speed limit is dropping from 60 m.p.h. to 50 m.p.h. This drop is almost universally described (by RTÉ, TV3, the National Safety Council and the Government's website gometric.ie, to name but a few) as a decrease of 20 per cent - and this error was repeated in Wednesday's Motors supplement. Ten as a percentage of 60 is 16.66 per cent, not 20 per cent. A 20 per cent decrease would bring the limit down to 48 m.p.h. - Yours, etc.,

AIDAN O'CARROLL, Mount Argus Close, Kimmage, Dublin 6.