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 use both and understand both to the point where I can mentally picture both a foot and a metre.

However when Americans it’s 70degrees F today I have no idea how hot or cold that is. 25degrees C and I can again know how warm that is instinctively. Iyswim.

If someone instinctively uses a type of measurement then you are not likely going to change using it.

Im 31 and I use lb and stone and feet and inches. Kg and metres mean absolutely nothing to me! Why do you care?

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

I have been to a pub that did milliltres instead of pints for beers and lagers.

250 ml is about half a pint.

So you could just ask for a 1/4 or a 1/2 a litre of beer

But I don't think that will change for a very long time!!

Kg and metres mean absolutely nothing to me! Why do you care

Does a yard mean anything to you?

I was thinking about this the other day, as I measured my waist in cm, my weight in stones and lbs, my height in feet and inches, then tried to work out the right distance to run a 5k in miles from my house. Baffling, honestly

I think Imperial were more humanly friendly
so an inch is the length of your thumb it is also 25.4mm - I can easily picture the length of my thumb, not so much 25.4mm.
A foot is the length of the average foot 12 in, it is also 304.8 mm.
Average height is for a male, 6 ft, that is easier to remember than 1.828m

I think it's easier to remember single or double digit numbers up to 20, which covers most things day to day, than to deal in hundreds and thousands.

In my head I can picture 2 ft 6 but not 26 cm or 260cm

I'm not sure it was as early as 1965. I was taught in imperial measure at primary until 1968. Even at secondary we used imperial but metric measurements were explained. Not much explanation was needed really it's all base 10 what is difficult to understand.

I always cook in ounces and pounds because it's 'nicer'. I can't explain why. New cookery books are in metric so I write the imperial at the side. The only time I used metric for cooking was to please school when the DC were younger. Now they are older they use imperial too.

I am old enough to recall the changeover to decimal coins.

I use both Imperial and metric but mainly metric. I talk about a pint of milk but buy a litre. I use miles for longer distances but measure most things (like curtains) in metres.
I cook in grams with ml fluids. I weigh myself in stones but the dog in kg.
I use centigrade not Fahrenheit for the weather and body temperature.

It's all about buying your drugs. You're hardly going to say to your dealer 'im looking for 28.35 grams of Moroccan Black' are you? But 'give me an ounce of the good stuff' everyone understands. Happy days.

I’m with Crockof in weighing people in stones and pounds and dogs in kg. If you’re talking about 10kg I visualise that as a beagle.

I tend to measure my weight in kg these days though Dh always uses stones and pounds. I think that's because what the gym and the hospital use hence why I've changed to them.
I always refer to height in feet and inches.

Drinks it's still normally pint and half pint for milk and beer. Never ask for ml in other drinks though - just small, medium, large, etc.

Distances in car I always use miles and mph though my car shows both.

Dh refers to short distances in yards because of golf.

I was taught both in the 80’s and 90’s.
Some recipes I still use imperial (mug cakes are 2oz of everything and 1 egg)
And I could ask for a quarter of ham at the deli counter but get confused in metric as to what I need.

I always change my sat nag to miles, not km.

Although I get my height in ft. I don’t really understand how many inches to a foot or how many lbs to a stone.

It’s weird and I’d never thought about it really.

Eighths and quarters were very useful in my teenage years

Anyone know what length rulers are used in European schools? Ours are obviously 30cm because of being equal to the old foot and three of them making a yard. I wondered if they were 25 or 50cm because 30cm would be pointless

I am in my early 20s. I measure myself in stones and lbs. They weigh babies in lbs and oz. My height is in ft and inches. I prefer miles over km.

We had to interact with older relatives, we learned to cook with them, help with DIY, measure things up - so we learned to use both; Metric in school, Imperial outside.

And quite often, Imperial measurements are easier in practical applications; 4 flour, 4 sugar, 4 milk, 2 eggs, instead of 113.4g, for example, 6 inches rather than 152.4mm - using a 3,4,5 to ensure a corner is 90 degrees, rather than 914.4mm/1219.2mm/1524mm.

It's not hard to use both in different circumstances. And some of us really confuse the world by also switching to American Measures when necessary (such as with online recipes).

I'm more surprised by how people can't use different units of measurement, to be honest.

People in Europe are used to metric. No doubt they can visualise a metre, a kilogram etc. I guess they can measure when cooking as well. People get used to what they work with.

I am in my early 20s. I measure myself in stones and lbs. They weigh babies in lbs and oz. My height is in ft and inches. I prefer miles over km

NHS use grams and kg. They probably convert it for the parents, but all official weights in the health service have been in kg for some time. All drugs are dosed on per kg- at least in adult services.
Other than that, am very early 30s and agree with the rest of your post. I don't know my height in m (and don't care!) and drive in miles.

I'm 52 and am a bit betwixt and between. I'm fine with weights and distances in metric and imperial, though prefer/ better understand imperial.
I struggle with Centigrade and Fahrenheit though....

I prefer metric, My car I use metric as much as possible but obviously the speed dial is in MPH.

I'm 53 so learned metric at school but we also had to learn to convert because when we went shopping for school (needlework and domestic science) we had to buy in imperial.

I was once covering an IT class for some international students, I had them looking for different prices for a shopping list, but I put, "1 Pint of milk" which you can't buy any more, well you can but it isn't listed in pints.

A foot is the length of the average foot 12 in

Do you live in the land of giants? That's a shoe size 14!

I deal with a lot of weights/measurements/distances at work.

I sit there and do the weights in metric, the distances in imperial and the measurements in metric which I then convert to imperial in my head becaise I only know the length of what they have to go on in imperial and the width in metric.

I had never even considered how barmy that was until just now 😂

They’re used in an official capacity on roads and the like. I hate it (foreigner). DH insists that imperial measurements are better because they can easily be divided into quarters and thirds where metrics cannot. He does have a point.

@Lexplorer they’re 30cm everywhere. Otherwise 20cm would be too short to rule a margin on an A4 page and a 50cm ruler would be stupidly long.

3 4 5 works for metric ad well