To think it's time the UK went truly metric.

[complexnumber]

Partially inspired by another thread about the size of tv's being quoted in inches.

I know that is a trivial example, but isn't it time we finally dropped the imperial measurements completely?

Just about every other country in the world has managed it. Why can't we?

We (the UK that is) have been dithering since 1965, that's pathetic.

(However, I do confess to wanting my beer served by the pint.)

in canada we are meant to be metric (speedos and road signs in Kms etc) but in reality a lot is still imperial.

everyone measures themselves in feet and inches and pounds. Drinks come in fl oz measures

and our tellys are measures in inches

i still talk about pound notes too....... ElectricalBanana

I have been known to refer to 10 bob notes within the last decade.

I am a traitor to my own cause, but I do find it depressing that so many 20+ people still claim to use imperial measures.

Pre-decimal money was wonderful (although I am just a tiny bit too young to have ever used it).
240 is divisible by 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 10, 12, 15, 16, 20, 24, 32, 40, 48, 60, 80, 120.
100 is rubbish - only divisible by 2, 4, 5, 10, 20, 25, 50.

Base 12 is so much more practical than base 10.

if it were just pounds and ounces and pints... I can deal with those.

but the amount of different meaurements for different occasions is just mindboggling (I grew up metric).
furlong
fl ounce
ounce
the many different spoons
the money of the past
hands
yards
acre
...

I do both, although these days I err on the side of metric (weights in kilos etc).. I'd be completely happy to make the switch obligatory.

I hate to tell you, but your 2x4s are no longer 2x4s - you'll find that most DIY stuff has been silently switched to metric, but still referred to in imperial - even though it isn't quite any more..

I prefer imperial by far.

I was so happy using it when we lived in the US.

Its much easier at the deli

Tell me that I'm not the only one who, when the price of stamps went up recently, found myself thinking, "12 bob to post a letter..?!". It confirmed my kids theory that I am not only old, but living in the past...

Dont even get me started on cooking where cups, tsp, tbsp, oz, lbs, grams are scattered around like confetti.

I dont actually see the point of why we should change. Although I am old I learnt metric at school though as a seamstress have always gone by inches and yards. I can convert to metres/centimetres if I wish. I doubt people only taught metric could.

I love the fact my DS asks "can we watch tv with the 15ft long cable". He also talks about casting 'yards'

YANBU

We should have done it properly or not at all.

A box of water measuring 1 metre by 1 metre by 1 metre weighs 1 Tonne.
1 Kilometre is 1 thousand metres.
1 Kilogram is 1 thousand grams.

All so simple.
Now, how many tuns to a florin?

YANBU. I wish people were more embarrassed when admitting that they can't convert between the two (and I am v fed up that I have to be able to as we should all JUST USE METRIC). @oldraver there is no way the older generation can move between the two as easily as the younger generation ime.

Imperial is so vague and approximate. It is for people who can't count.

In Sweden they manage to make metric complicated. WTH are decilitres and centilitres and hectograms??!?!?!

Give me kilo and millis and that will do fine thank you very much.

if imperial is so wonderful as it uses base 12, why does a stone have 14 lbs in it?

Though maybe there is a point to centimetres...

@mrsmeeple I agree the units other countries use are odd. I remember a french bloke triumphantly telling me had bought 70centilitres of rum with him to a party. I felt like telling him to speak in English. (700ml if you were wondering).
And Americans are weird with their measurements. It's either a fluid oz or gallons, wtf happened to pints. And lbs or tones. Wft happened to stone.

Farenheit is the world's most stupid measurement system, though is it even imperial, or something on its own stupid self.

Much of metric is about suffixes. 100 centimetre to a metre, 100 centilitres to a litre.

yes, and yes, to Tiggy's posts. Once it clicks, metric is so ridiculously easy. I honestly don't understand people who think imperial is easier.

Since someone upthread asked, there are pints in the US. They are, however, 16 ounces, whereas I think UK ones are 20? It's another good example of the confusion left with other measuring systems. There are also ounces by weight versus liquid ounces in the US.

I am American and I completely embrace the metric system. I don't think we should stick with archaic systems simply because we were all forced to learn them as children when there is a far simpler, more efficient system out there. I admit, it takes some time to get used to it, saying you want 450 grams instead of a pound of something at the deli, but it is certainly possible!

Metric is far more practical for every day living because it is base 10 like our number system.

However I feel that law enforcement people are better spending their time stopping rapists or burlgers than some market trader who wants to use pounds and ounces.

I believe that imperial will die a gradual death and is more like to survive if its banned.

I agree we should go metric, mainly to piss off all the old dodderers who still give temperatures in Fahrenheit instead of the post 1950s version (Celsius).

Sure I could learn the Fahrenheit scale so I could understand them, but why the fuck should I just because they want to hark back to the days of Elvis Presley.

alanyoung, you do realise that your argument doesn't get better because you change your name, don't you?

When I was at school (I'm 36) we learnt...

cm and metres
grams and kg
litres and ml

Are they all metric?

In everyday life I measure in...

feet and inches for height
miles for distance
lbs and oz for weight
grams and kg for things like recipes but only if that's how it's written
oz when doing things such as baby bottles
still say a pint of milk/beer

I'm completely confused

Oh, and we learnt centigrade. Is that imperial or metric?

I can make a cake using imperial weights in minutes, in metric not a hope.
Surely imperial exercises your brain more with all the 12's, 14's, 16's?

When you buy a car they tell you the mpg, but petrol is bought by the litre?