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 never know which is imperial and which is metric.

My generation also had their parents who still used imperial when the country switched to metric

I use feet/inches for height, stones and pounds for weight, oz's for cooking as my grandma taught me
I use both cm and inches for measuring - I quilt so use inches more for that
As PP have said, we use celsius to describe cold weather and fahrenheit for hot so although we are a metric nation, we all use both

My DS was recently weighed and measured at a paediatric appointment. The nurse gave his weight in kgs and heights in cms. We had to use my converter calculator to put into 'English' (stones/lbs & feet/inches) so DH and I understood

Interesting about visual clues and choice of measurements. I need people weighed in lbs and stone but dogs in kg.

I hate metric. I measure everything in imperial. I don’t understand km either. Can’t translate into miles.

It’s all about gaining a concept. You gain that by experiencing things. You visualise someone who is 6ft tall. You know roughly how heavy a couple of pounds is because you probably buy veg in a bag already weighed.etc.etc. When you use metric you apply the nearest approximate unit of measure which you have learned and link this to the concept learned. Of course if you have only used metric the concept will be reversed. It is also habit.

It's all mixed though. I learnt metric at school, but you bought food in pounds and ounces - a quarter of loose sweets, pint of milk, half a pound of cheese or butter, loose fruit and veg was priced per pound. The switch to metric for loose fruit and veg was only 20 years ago!

Government (all of them!) never fully committed to the switchover, it's been rolling out for years across various industries and there have been several reviews over changing the speed limit signs.

An inch is approx the end of your thumb, a foot is a foot

I've had to read this post a couple of times in the hope that you're not suggesting you measure feet with your actual feet (based on your end of your thumb, yard is a stride stuff). A foot is 12 inches and unless you're a man with size 14 feet, a foot is very much NOT the size of your foot, the things wot attach your legs to the ground.

As PP have said, we use celsius to describe cold weather and fahrenheit for hot so although we are a metric nation, we all use both

I don't think that you can talk about Farenheit and Celsius as metric and Imperial in the same way as miles and kilometres.

Working in base 10 for measurements and weights is easy for us who count in Base 10. We don't have to do conversions for how many pounds in a stone etc

Whereas it's just a different scale for temperature.

40 degrees celsius is not twice as hot as 20 degrees celsius

Maybe we should be using Kelvin?

But since you asked me for a story about temperature, I believe i have one for you.

I hate metric. I measure everything in imperial. I don’t understand km either. Can’t translate into miles

I see that as a different issue, the problem there is with maths skills rather than the unit surely, how can you not understand a km? If you can understand that a mile is a set distance you can understand that a km is the same but a different distance. Conversion is very easy, even if you can't retain the conversion factors Google does it in microseconds.

My husband's feet are 12 inches long, and yes it does come in very useful for rough measurements.

Swedish inches are "thumbs" if I remember correctly.

Babies come in pounds and ounces and milk in pints. Our road signs are in miles and speed is in miles per hour. We put litres of fuel in our cars but fuel consumption is in gallons!

I find it odd that we sell Petrol in litres and yet talk about how many MPG a car gets, It should say MPL on the car paperwork.
I use metric for a lot of measures, unless cooking, then I use cups, teaspoons and tablespoons. Lot less faff.

I've just thought ... we still teach times tables up to 12. Which i get under imperial, you'd want to quickly convert feet to inches, but now we could stop at 10!

I use cm to measure length but height is imperial. Weight is both. Distance is always miles anyway.

I was born after it changed too.

I’m a nurse so use metric, weight is in kg inc babies we just convert it for parents. But use imperial at home bake in ounces but can convert units my grandmas old cook books are imperial my scales weigh in both

I use both and left school in 1989. My Home Economics CSE used pounds and ounces.

I learned metric in the 70's but still use imperial as I've got a better sense of size or height - I seem to spend my time calculating back and forwards though when it comes to weight....

The same between celsius and fahrenheit - although proper calculations are beyond me, its a rough estimate.

I tend to estimate in imperial and use metric to measure precisely or do calculations.

we still teach times tables up to 12. Which i get under imperial, you'd want to quickly convert feet to inches, but now we could stop at 10

I think that's why there's an obsession with fractions at school as well.

13 3/ 4 divided by 2 1/3 anyone?

I've always found imperial easier to use. I'm rubbish at remembering numbers and find lower ones easier to recall, so if I'm glancing at a recipe I'd much rather see 5oz than 140gm. I have both metric and imperial weights for my (ancient) scales, but the metric rarely come out of the drawer.

I have no idea what I weigh or measure in metric...

I took my son to the GP recently with a persistent high temperature. I said it was varying between 99°F and 104°F. She said she had never heard someone use Fahrenheit before. I told her I was very old (43)

I’m in my late 20s and I use imperial for height, weight (as in people’s weight), distance. It means nothing to me when someone says they are 55kg, I need to convert it

If I’m measuring something I’ll use centimetres and I’ll use metric measurements when cooking, unless I’m baking a cake as my dad taught me the 4/4/4/2 method.

Time is an interesting one - especially for people used to calculators and decimals.

2.45 hours - what's that in hours and minutes

And then decimals and measurements aren't always easy

What is 3.8 miles in miles and yards?

Ok - so hw many

I use both, daily, but maybe it’s because I work for an American company.

I love how the Daily Mail and the Daily Express make the most of Farenheit in their weather reports.

Because 97 degrees F just sounds warmer than 37 C!

When beer starts to be sold in mls and not pints then maybe things will change