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Metric v Imperial

5 replies

kittyfish · 27/02/2006 14:55

What do you think? Are we really seen as backwards by the rest of Europe due to our love of imperial measurements? I personally would be very sad to see the back of miles, pounds, pints etc and the thought of the govt wasting £70,000,000 just so a few tourist don't get confused makes me a bit cross.

OP posts:
tuppenceworth · 27/02/2006 15:01

Since we seem to do anything the Americans tell us to do these days, can't we just stick to pints, yards, stones, etc, etc?!

Which would you rather ask for - a royale with cheese or a quarter pounder??

SueW · 27/02/2006 15:03

I quite like knowing both systems because it means I don't feel out of place in the US or Europe/Oz/NZ! Psychological advantage :)

paolosgirl · 27/02/2006 15:04

Ah, but don't forget this Govt is VERY good at wasting money on things we don't need!

I'd be very cross if imperial disappeared. If the french etc want kilos, then that's fine - but when in the UK and all that....

DominiConnor · 27/02/2006 22:53

the thought of the govt wasting £70,000,000 just so a few tourist don't get confused makes me a bit cross.

Not just Europe, pretty much everywhere is ahead of us.
As for not confusing tourists, I assume you're British and can answer these questions with ease ?
What temperature does water boil at or freeze in the Fahrenheit scale ?

How many ounces in a stone ?

If I have a ton of manure, and an acre of land. How much manure per square foot ?
Maybe you know the number of sq ft in an acre, but it's not a nice number to do mental maths with is it ?

How many horses does it take to generate a horsepower ? (Hint it's more than one)

Can you even guess what a British Thermal Unit might be ? Look on your boiler, it's output might be measured in them. Hint: BTU/Hr
How much fun did you have dividing by the 3600 second in an hour ?

Heat from food is measured in calories which aren't calories, heat from gas in BTUs, electrical devices in Joules, and heat from various other sources in (real) calories.
Any idea how to convert between them ?

Which weighs more, an ounce of gold or an ounce of feathers ?
Actually that's a double trick question, your first answer was probably wrong :)

What the ratio of fluid ounces to dtry ounces.
How many gills in a pint ?

Oh yes, and American & Irish miles, gallons etc are different. Americans have it worse.

So luddite ar they that NASA ends up using truly daft units like microinches. Several whole space vehicles have been lost through errors caused by the clash of units.

stitch · 27/02/2006 23:01

when i came to this country as an adult, [pretend] i had to get used to imperial measurements. it was a hassle, but not impossible.
why cant this country get with it and measure things like the rest of the world?

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