Metric Schmetric: We Will Resist!

1. fluff
   July 7th, 2007 at 1:09 pm

   Forgive me if I am mistaken; but what about the UK? I clearly remember the ads for flats were in square feet... Or am I confusing the metric system with the SI units?

2. linty
   July 7th, 2007 at 1:35 pm

   as a canadian I can vouch for the fact that we aren't really all that metric.
   Ask a canadian how tall they are in cm or how much they weigh in kg and their inability to answer will show you that we never completely gave up imperial.

3. Jack Hynes
   July 7th, 2007 at 1:49 pm

   To be fair, the UK is still pretty imperial. Roads are miles and yards, weight is stones and pounds, height is feet and inches. Although most things are quoted in both.

   I can't understand why we can't just modernise... there is NO benefit for the imperial system.

4. Eugenio Martínez Sierra
   July 7th, 2007 at 1:59 pm

   In the spanish Wikipedia (I didn´t found it in the english) say that in UK is used the... strange system too.

   Have no sense. And Fahrenheit have less sense if possible.

5. Silent002
   July 7th, 2007 at 4:25 pm

   I'm from the UK, so I'll let you in on how it works. Really, we're about half and half.

   Tempreture: Centigrade, though Fahrenheit is given too.
   Distance: Road signs will show Miles.
   Speed: Again, signs show speed limit in Miles per Hour. Speedometers show MPH, with KPH in smaller values on pritty much every car built over here.
   Weight: Kilograms usually, though Lbs is also available on most food items... Though in street markets, Lbs is still used more it seems.
   Volume: Litres, though again, Pints is given
   Petrol (Gas): Litres only, and the price is given as £s per Litre (usually an insane amount ).

   Thats about all I can think of. Oh, ask someone their height, 95% of the time it'll be in Feet and inches, weight will be in Stones and Pounds.
   Schools almost never teach in Imperial measurements, and conversion rates are only covered briefly in classes.

   Hope it helps!

6. Padraig
   July 7th, 2007 at 4:59 pm

   Officially, the UK uses the metric system (which happens to be the SI - "system international" in French). But, just like Canada, a lot of people seem to have trouble understanding the vastly simpler methodology. Some people just seem to have a hard time killing old, useless habits.

7. Britt
   July 7th, 2007 at 6:53 pm

   I have a hard time grocery shopping in the States, especially when it comes to getting 150g of honey ham.

8. Mickie Bitsko
   July 7th, 2007 at 8:44 pm

   Its appropriate that the the US Empire uses the measurement system of the former British Empire.

9. Slappy
   July 7th, 2007 at 9:47 pm

   Hiking in NY state, all my maps were in metric, as supplied by the DEC. There are branches of the US government that do use metric.

10. ted
    July 7th, 2007 at 10:01 pm

    Yes, the US Empire in cahoots with the Liberians and Myanmarians.

    Damned axis of evil. How dare they weigh things in pounds!

11. Dave
    July 7th, 2007 at 10:08 pm

    What is the problem with the non-metric system anyway, and why do so many people get their underwear so bundled by it? True, some of the measures are a bit obscure and require a little memorization... It's really not that difficult for moderately intelligent people. Guess the metric system is for those who are not? ;o)

12. marco
    July 7th, 2007 at 11:41 pm

    There are benefits to the imperial system. Ever try to build a house in metric? Due to our tendency towards symmetry and certain proportions, the foot is a nifty system for dividing into halves, thirds, and quarters, and the precision of the fractional inches is accurate enough for most work. Over time these dimensions may too be absorbed, but I think there will always be domains where imperial units will continue to preside for practical sake.

13. Alex
    July 8th, 2007 at 1:14 am

    Well, I don't count in duodecimal, so the imperial system is a little inconvenient in terms of conversion.

14. BikerRay
    July 8th, 2007 at 4:53 am

    Don't US-made vehicles use metric fasteners? How about military equipment?
    And in Canada, Imperial usage is heavily biased towards "older" generations... ask a teen what a mile is, and see what response you get.
    Wood is largely Imperial sized, though plywood thickness is metric. Officially, anyway, I believe.

15. fluff
    July 8th, 2007 at 5:05 am

    There was a time when scientists had to be able to convert units from 3 (!) different systems. In the SI system simply all fits together. That is the reason why I absolutely cannot understand why people still use anything other than the SI system. I guess it's just lack of flexibility...

16. Dusty
    July 8th, 2007 at 7:44 am

    "They’re the only three countries in the whole world that do not use the metric system"

    The United States uses metric. It's just not used exclusively.

17. Jimmy
    July 8th, 2007 at 11:57 am

    wow what a boring thread! does it really matter?

18. tom b
    July 8th, 2007 at 3:21 pm

    The thing that annoys me: I haven't seen ANY progress towards metric in the US in, like, 30 years. I think it's one of things that perenially never gets any funding from Congress.

19. DCer
    July 8th, 2007 at 10:43 pm

    I am in the US and we use metric "often." It is displayed on almost all our food packaging, for instance, and is displayed on almost all scales and other info. You rarely see signs in metric, but you ALWAYS see wrench sizes and hardware lengths in metric. Almost all rulers and measuring tapes are in both. I think the issue is that if it's not on the highway signs or on gas station signs people think it's not used.

    But I mean, do you order a PINT in the UK? Or Germany? umm, yes, you do.

20. fluff
    July 9th, 2007 at 4:37 am

    In germany there is no such thing as pint. It's called "Mass".

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