Metric Measurements

[Rosie29]

I'm not sure where to put this but I find it odd that the Met office patiently took time over months, if not years, to get us used to temperatures in Centigrade rather than Fahrenheit. But now all measurements of rainfall or depth of snow is given only in millimetres or centimetres. I guess the kids have no problem, but I do - I only know 5cm is about 2 inches and I have to workit out from there!

[jake-the-peg]

What is this 'inch' of which you speak?

Is it like a groat? ;c)

[Rosie29]

Brilliant LOL

[wardlaw]

Rosie29 you are not alone!

[jamesnan]

Oh you are definitely not alone, I know a metre is a yard and 3 inches! As for centimetres or milli litres - forget it! Inches, yards, pints, ounces and pounds please.

[jake-the-peg]

To be honest we're well mixed up as a nation

I was at school in the 70s and 80s and we were taught in metric but things were often in imperial outside

Measurements are still mixed up - we have liters for fuel but still have miles, pints of beer - goodness knows about milk - is that in litres?


Craziest thing is wood '2 by 4' in metres! - Wouldn't be so bad but '2 by 4' isn't even 2 inches by 4 inches but something less than that as it's planed down.

If you go to Ireland you find they grasped the nettle and went over to KM

If we'd actually had the guts and gone for it properly it would be as clear now as decimal coinage - ah well an opportunity missed!

Ever noticed how people who miss pounds shilling and pence can't remember how to work out what Five pounds 3 and sixpence split between 4 people is?

[Buenchico]

The UK was meant to have completely adopted metric units by 1975. (My secondary school had a 'metric only' policy when I joined it in 1964). So, based upon what I've read here, there must be some AB members who are even older than I am!

This should help:
http://www.metric-conversions.org/length/millimeters-to-inches-table.htm
(If you'd prefer decimals to fractions, just use the drop-down option where it says 'Fractions'. Click on 'Print table' if you want to keep a copy by the telly!)

Chris

[Mass_Hysteria]

And car manufacturers STILL quote Miles Per Gallon!! Probably because 50 mpg sounds a lot better than 21.257 miles per litre.
When was the last time you bought a gallon of fuel?

Also, I've just bought some bathroom scales, when I stood on them the reading was in kg! Arrggh?
Fortunately there is a tiny switch underneath that converts to stones/pounds.....phew!

[Mass_Hysteria]

Think i've got that wrong?
I think it should be 5.65 km per litre......help?

[Buenchico]

>>>And car manufacturers STILL quote Miles Per Gallon

At least 'mpg' is consistent in using Imperial units, M-H. 'Miles per litre' is neither wholly metric or imperial.

What sometimes worries me is that quite a few drivers look at fuel economy figures expressed in the EU-preferred standard of 'litres/100km' and don't realise that they should be seeking the lowest figure, not the highest one!

[Valmave]

Surfing waves are always measured in feet.

[factor-fiction]

We do seem to have got in a bit of a mess in this country, perhaps because we are influenced quite a lot by the US who still use imperial measures. As far as I know the rest of Europe just uses metric measures. It's not easy teaching metric measures and imperial equivalents.

[gingejbee]

Are we the only country in the world that needs temperatures and measurements on two different scales, all the time?
Is it stupidity or laziness, or both?

[humbersloop]

clocks forward, clocks back, is that in metric as well??

[FredPuli43]

500 grams, gm, is near enough a pound.. And a pound is now about 5 bob. Still find myself trying to work out what 6 ozs of cheese is in metric though. Let's see: 500 gm is 16 ozs ,and 6ozs is 6 sixteenths of that so..oh hell, order 250 gm !.

The French don't have this trouble. They just ask the assistant to cut a bit of cheese to the size they think they need. No mucking about with saying how many grams they want.