# What's the deal with "legal" size paper? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 16, 2011, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-legal-size-paper/571622 "2011-02-16T20:13:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![JerseyMarine2092](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/8491ac/32.png) [@JerseyMarine2092](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JerseyMarine2092)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2011, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-legal-size-paper/571622/21 "2011-02-17T17:05:53Z")
I want to take a second to complain about A4 sized paper. I process all the invoices at my work for payment, and every once and a while one will come in from the UK. A4 paper’s dimensions are just off enough that it’s not noticeable if it’s by itself. But it’s enough to damn my scanner. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Lare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/53a042/32.png) [@Lare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lare)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2011, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-legal-size-paper/571622/22 "2011-02-17T17:09:56Z")
> [@Ruby](#): > > We can only hope it becomes obsolete. It seems to be fairly common in my neck of the woods. I just refi’d my house and came home with an entire folder full of legal size documents. Now exactly where will I file those…? Some of the Banker’s Boxes you can get at Staples or Office Max are made to take regular size papers in one direction, but it you turn the box 90 degrees you’ll find it’s just right for legal papers. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2011, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-legal-size-paper/571622/23 "2011-02-17T17:37:10Z")
> [@acsenray](#): > > What exactly is the confusion? Do we also have to eat your favourite flavour of ice cream and wear clothes in your preferred style too? If my ice cream preferences and clothes styles were \*demonstrably \*more sensible, as ISO217 paper is compared to letter, you’d be a fool not to. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2011, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-legal-size-paper/571622/24 "2011-02-17T17:45:17Z")
sorry, ISO 216-218 ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2011, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-legal-size-paper/571622/25 "2011-02-17T17:47:43Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > If my ice cream preferences and clothes styles were \*demonstrably \*more sensible, as ISO217 paper is compared to letter, you’d be a fool not to. More sensible? Your A4 paper is sentient? That’s amazing. Ours is just pulped wood. ---
**Author:** ![chappachula](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d2c977/32.png) [@chappachula](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chappachula)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2011, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-legal-size-paper/571622/26 "2011-02-17T17:48:10Z")
> [@acsenray](#): > > Most people still used canary yellow legal-sized pads for taking notes on though. > [@](#): > > You will, however, have to pry my legal length **yellow** pad from my cold dead hands. okay, you legal-beagle snobs…riddle me this: why ,why, oh why do you have to use canary yellow? You might as well go all the way: write on paper dyed in hazmat-warning orange. White paper is easy on the eyes. White paper works well with any color ink. White is pretty. White is _respectable_. Canary yellow is for…birds. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2011, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-legal-size-paper/571622/27 "2011-02-17T17:52:36Z")
On the contrary, I find handwritten notes on canary yellow paper much easier on the eyes than notes on stark white paper. Also, the rules blend more harmoniously on yellow. On white, the blue lines have too much contrast. ---
**Author:** ![Gedd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gedd/32/4938_2.png) [@Gedd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gedd)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2011, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-legal-size-paper/571622/28 "2011-02-17T20:22:17Z")
Darn you 210 × 297mm! To quote Abe Simpson, “The metric system is the tool of the Devil!” ---
**Author:** ![JoelUpchurch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f05b48/32.png) [@JoelUpchurch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JoelUpchurch)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2011, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-legal-size-paper/571622/29 "2011-02-17T20:37:53Z")
I find yellow easier on the eyes also. In my youth, I would use 8.5x14 because 8.5x11 wasn’t available in yellow or at least not common. I also got in the habit of designing computer reports to format correctly at 8.25x11 so they would print correctly on 8.5x11 or A4. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2011, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-legal-size-paper/571622/30 "2011-02-17T20:41:02Z")
The real estate industry in Wisconsin has finally discarded all legal-size forms. That makes for more sheets of paper, but it’s more manageable than mixed sizes. Some banks still use legal, and that makes it hard to file in our letter-sized cabinets and copy in our optimally letter-sized copiers. I’m glad of the trend and hope it continues to extinguish legal sized anything. ---
**Author:** ![Norse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a9adbd/32.png) [@Norse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Norse)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2011, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-legal-size-paper/571622/31 "2011-02-17T21:20:11Z")
> [@acsenray](#): > > What exactly is the confusion? Well, AFAIK you guys are the only ones who insist on using non-ISO-standard paper sizes. OTOH, you’re also about the only industrialized country which refuses to go metric, so it’s somewhat fitting (although we don’t really understand _why_ you’re so stubborn about conforming to the rest of the world). One advantage with A4 is the aspect ratio. It’s 1:1.4142, which means that if you double the size (to A3), it keeps the aspect ratio. Or if you cut it in two (to A5), that has the same aspect ratio too. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2011, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-legal-size-paper/571622/32 "2011-02-17T21:32:05Z")
> [@Norse](#): > > Well, AFAIK you guys are the only ones who insist on using non-ISO-standard paper sizes. And this causes what kind of confusion? As far as I know, in the Phillipines and Singapore, they like to eat cheese-flavoured ice cream on hot dog rolls. The people in most of the rest of the world has stubbornly refused to go along with this. > [@](#): > > OTOH, you’re also about the only industrialized country which refuses to go metric, so it’s somewhat fitting (although we don’t really understand _why_ you’re so stubborn about conforming to the rest of the world). Uh … so what? There is no why. Why do Canadians put vinegar or gravy on their french fries instead of ketchup? Why do Indians use the term “poached egg” to describe a fried egg? > [@](#): > > One advantage with A4 is the aspect ratio. It’s 1:1.4142, which means that if you double the size (to A3), it keeps the aspect ratio. Or if you cut it in two (to A5), that has the same aspect ratio too. Uh … so what? ---
**Author:** ![Norse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a9adbd/32.png) [@Norse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Norse)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2011, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-legal-size-paper/571622/33 "2011-02-17T21:34:53Z")
> [@acsenray](#): > > As far as I know, in the Phillipines and Singapore, they like to eat cheese-flavoured ice cream on hot dog rolls. Uh … so what? ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2011, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-legal-size-paper/571622/34 "2011-02-17T21:40:29Z")
> [@Norse](#): > > Uh … so what? Exactly. Why doesn’t everyone? It’s so confusing when everyone in the world doesn’t want goods that meet exactly the same parameters. ---
**Author:** ![Norse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a9adbd/32.png) [@Norse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Norse)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2011, 6:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-legal-size-paper/571622/35 "2011-02-18T06:54:32Z")
> [@acsenray](#): > > It’s so confusing when everyone in the world doesn’t want goods that meet exactly the same parameters. You know, if you’re planning to exchange goods with, uh, furriners, it’s sometimes an advantage to follow some kind of standardization scheme. That’s why we have international standards like metric, or all the ISO standards. It’s not the same as your favorite ice cream flavor, so there’s never been and will never be an ISO standard for “your favorite ice cream flavor”. But sure, if import, export and exchange of stuff and ideas across borders is an alien concept, I can understand your position. “Liters? Kilometers? No, I don’t know what that stuff you’re talking about is, this wagon can run 160 furloughs on a bushel of gasoline” ---
**Author:** ![bengangmo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@bengangmo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bengangmo)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2011, 9:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-legal-size-paper/571622/36 "2011-02-18T09:30:29Z")
> [@Norse](#): > > You know, if you’re planning to exchange goods with, uh, furriners, it’s sometimes an advantage to follow some kind of standardization scheme. That’s why we have international standards like metric, or all the ISO standards. It’s not the same as your favorite ice cream flavor, so there’s never been and will never be an ISO standard for “your favorite ice cream flavor”. But sure, if import, export and exchange of stuff and ideas across borders is an alien concept, I can understand your position. > > “Liters? Kilometers? No, I don’t know what that stuff you’re talking about is, this wagon can run 160 furloughs on a bushel of gasoline” Damn standards, when I am delivering my A4 sized paper I get 12 kilometRes to the litRe in my car. 😃 Serioulsy though - I HATE letter sized paper, everything here is A4…which is so much friendlier. Now if only I could teach Bill Gates to reconfigure to A4 as default all would be peachy (yeah, I know it’s in the settings, and is often one of the first things I change when I get a new work station) And since when do they eat CHEESE flavour ice-cream in Singapore? Not that I have ever heard. Durain flavour - YES Sweetcorn Flavour - YES (god it’s gross) Red Bean - YES (also gross) Ice-cream on bread - YES - (decidedly tasty) But I have never seen CHEESE flavoured icecream, and never on a hotdog bun either for that matter. ---
**Author:** ![Gedd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gedd/32/4938_2.png) [@Gedd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gedd)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2011, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-legal-size-paper/571622/37 "2011-02-18T13:36:42Z")
> [@Norse](#): > > “Liters? Kilometers? No, I don’t know what that stuff you’re talking about is, this wagon can run 160 furloughs on a bushel of gasoline” In my quote above from _The Simpsons_ he mentions his car gets “50 rods to the hogshead” which really stinks. That’s about 0.0025 mpg, or .000895 kpl for you imperials. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2011, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-legal-size-paper/571622/38 "2011-02-18T13:49:06Z")
> [@Gedd](#): > > In my quote above from _The Simpsons_ he mentions his car gets “50 rods to the hogshead” which really stinks. That’s about 0.0025 mpg, or .000895 kpl for you imperials. I thought they measured it in liters per 100 kilometers in Europe. ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2011, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-legal-size-paper/571622/39 "2011-02-18T16:02:37Z")
We’re not switching to metric, and never shall, because of our loyalty to the King of England! Or something. I love [this map](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Metric_system_adoption_map.svg) of countries who’ve switched to metric. The US, Liberia, Myanmar and… Antarctica… are the only ones left digging their heels. ---
**Author:** ![flatlined](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/eb9ed0/32.png) [@flatlined](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flatlined)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2011, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-legal-size-paper/571622/40 "2011-02-19T03:20:04Z")
> [@Cluricaun](#): > > Unless you’re the Maricopa county Arizona recorder of deeds where they prefer legal sized documents be submitted for recording for some reason. This strikes me as really funny. We can’t even standardize in the same state. The Yavapai County Recorder prefers letter size. 😃 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-legal-size-paper/571622.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-legal-size-paper/571622.md?page=3)