We also sloppily say we measure our "weight" in kilos. Not so strange since all scales are marked in kg. What we do is of course that we're finding our mass by measuring our weight here at earth. It's difficult to get around this problem - we measure our weight to get our mass, and therefore say "I weigh x kg".
However, the difference between mass, force and weight is emphasized in classes, (I think high school were where they really started to make a point about this).
That companies that should know better mark their motors in "g-cm" is a bad situation. It will make things a lot more confusing for those trying to move over to the SI system. "g-cm" IS a nonsense unit and as such should never be used. Period.
(But it's nice to see that you knew what you were talking about, ollopa
)
Let's say this instead:
Also, the "oz" is not the weight of the motor but the holding torque in ounce-inches. In metric this is newton-metres (Nm). Gram-centimeters (g-cm) is sometimes used as an (incorrect) imperial-metric hybrid unit of torque.
That should cover it, don't you think? (Mind if I copy it and pester everybody with it until they can repeat it in their sleep?
)
Arvid