To think it odd that so many British still use Imperial measurements?

[Elouera]

Britain started using metric measurements in 1965, so I can only assume that majority of people under about age 50 learnt metric in school? I spend part of my schooling under a British system, but it was all metric. I'm just intrigued as to why, 50yrs later, some younger people are still referring to pounds and lbs???

I'm early 50s and use a mixture. I was only taught metric at school but then went home and our bathroom scales and kitchen scales were imperial, recipe books were imperial, the milkman brought pints of milk and my dad filled up the car with gallons of petrol.

Now I am all over the place. Some things I can only understand metric (temperature); some I can only only relate to in imperial (people's height and weight, waist and boob size, speed of vehicles, distances between places); some things I'm comfortable with either (small weights e.g. recipes, length of objects).

I understand both sort of, and was taught metric at school in the 90’s and 00’s but imperial at home by my grandmother. Its all a bit of a mishmash. I know height and weight Imperial measurements and wouldn’t have the foggiest clue how much someone weighs in kg or how tall they are in cm. I bake in grams but measure lengths in ft and inches mostly.

Lolling at measuring in rulers.

I was at school between 1968 and 1981. I cannot remember doing anything in metric at all. I took cooking and sewing both were in imperial. Until I began a job where sizing was in cm and volume in ml, I had not used it.
Now I combine the two. I still think in imperial but strangely only certain things. Height, weight, volume, distance and temperature.
I know that 40 degrees fever is bad cos of the kids and what we learned but it is more of a benchmark than a true understanding iyswim. When it comes to adult fevers, I still think in Fahrenheit and have to convert it. Miles per gallon are calculated from litres and a bag of sugar is now 2.2lb. Weirdly, I can visualise soft drinks bottle sizes in metric in the supermarket but will ask for a pint or half pint in a pub. 100 yard dash was part of sports day and a standard kitchen appliance is 600mm.
Madness!

I was taught metric only at school and work in a field where all measurements are metric and we reject anything in imperial. I weigh myself in kg. I can cope with human height in feet and inches but prefer it in metres. I cook in metric. I buy veg in kg. I swim in metres and kilometres. I drive in miles because that’s what my car measures.

I’m not bothered too much if people use imperial but I can’t picture 18 inches or 4ft so tend to switch off

I’m old. I have to translate metric to imperial for it to make any sense at all.

I'm 52 and have always used metric but since starting sewing I now use inches too as sewing is mainly taught in inches. It doesn't help either as the US uses imperial measurements. It's good to know both I suppose.

I'm 28, (born in '91) and I don't actually know which way is metric and which way is imperial I happily use either when I'm cooking though! Just depends what the recipe uses.

I might try it out and see how many people I can annoy.

When are we meeting?

Oh, in about 40 kiloseconds.

Now that we're out of the EU you may find that metric becomes even less popular.

4 foot long is 4 foot long subs from subway in a row Jin.

It's because imperial units make more sense of every day life things. They're the right sort of size for measuring the weight and height of people - it's much easier to visualise 5 or 6 feet than 163 cm, for instance. They make sense for cooking because ounces work with the size of an egg. Recipes which call for 3 ounces or 4 ounces or whatever are much easier to remember than 82g or 112g. I guess kilometres and miles aren't that different, but since all our road signs are still in miles and cars all measure speed in miles per hour, there's no incentive to change.

Imperial units are also usually easier to split up: 16 ounces divides by 2, 4 and 8; 12 inches divides by 2, 3, 4 and 6. They aren't great for doing calculations or for the digital world, so it makes sense for scientists and computers to prefer the metric system. But for everyday things they have a lot of advantages.

I'm late 50s and did imperial at school for two years, then shifted to metric. I can use either, but I prefer metric.

I always remember this rhyme thing my mum keeps pinned on her notice board.
"A litre of water's a pint and three quarters.
Two and a quarter pounds of jam, weigh about a kilogram."

I used to sell sofas and its amazing the number of people who will say they’re looking for something to fit a space 6ft by 1.2 metres, for example

I wonder how many people who use imperial are able to do calculations like

10 stone 5 lb divided by 6?

Or 5ft 11 inches divided by 7?

Pretty easy in decimal - and especially if you use a calculator

But saying that - I can use stones and lb for my weight and feet and inches for height.

But I rarely calculate with it.

I've always wondered why the measurements all vary so much. I'm 24.

I do weight in stones.
Bake in kg but can convert to cups for American recipes
Distance in miles
Small measurements in cm
Height in feet

It's very annoying when I'm wanting to find out my BMI but I only know my height in ft and weight in stones and I have to convert one to be able to use the calculator! All doctors seem to use kg as well

10 stone 5 lb divided by 6?

So that's 145 / 6

Or 5ft 11 inches divided by 7?

So that's 71/7

Pretty easy in decimal - and especially if you use a calculator

I mean, it's not exactly hard in imperial, is it?

As a child of the 1940s I was obviously taught imperial and metric passed me by. If I go to the greengrocers I still ask for a pound of carrots or in a craft shop, a yard of fabric. I still also convert Celsius into Farenheit.

I use metric for everything except driving. I was only taught metric at school. I'm 49.

All science and anything in a scientific field is in metric. All international measurements except the US (I think) are in metric. The US uses metric for science.

Petrol is sold in litres and our insistence of using miles means it's more difficult to equate what you buy in litres to distance

Young people use metric.

I use both, I like imperial though, it seems a bit retro.

Distance presumably comes from the size of a foot for walking. My dad’s foot is 1 foot long.

Yards come from measuring fabric. If you have a roll of cloth and you hold it open for a customer the length from the centre of your chest to the end of your extended arm is about a yard.

We learnt both but all cooking at school and home was imperial so that’s what I still use. I have to convert recipes so they make sense.

I'm 35 and use mostly imperial. Distance in miles, height in feet and inches, weight in stones and pounds, but temperature in celsius and smaller measurements in cm. I struggle to picture an inch or yard though!

So that's 145 / 6

So you had to convert to pounds using your 14 times table, then divide by a number and then convert back to stone and pounds using your 14 times table and division.

It's a bit more complicated than a decimal based system when you don't have to convert.

Especially if you have a calculatir