Hurrah! This may make me an old f*rt but I am v. glad the UK can keep miles and pints

[McEdam]

[[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/6988521.stm looks like the EU has given up trying to force us to go completely metric.

I don't mind having stuff in metric as long as you can show imperial as well. But being from the generation who did sums in metric but learnt imperial from our parents (and so use it in RL - if I'm buying a house, I need to know the room sizes in feet and inches to understand them) I am relieved I won't be forced to use metric alone.

I just wonder if our govt. will respond or not. Because the trend here is to armour-plate EU regs rather than take the pragmatic approach of other countries, who are more relaxed about introducing unpopular measures.

I hear from colleagues who work with the EU that actually our govt. often pushes for the EU to rule on stuff they want but know will be unpopular, so when they introduce it they can blame the EU.

Darn. [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/6988521.stm here]]

My brain still hasn't warmed up, obv!

here

Are there really no other old farts out there? Bah, humbug, I laugh at you and your kilos!

mcedam, im not an old fart but i never got the hang of metric really! im glad we can keep some oldies!

Mind you that I'm completely left out in any discussion: what was your baby weight/guess my baby's weight, etc as I work in metric.

sorry should have added (and that the baby weight is always a subject I warm to)

Phew, I was beginning to think I was the only MNer who still works in feet, inches, pounds and ounces.

How much did your baby weigh, Franca and what does it mean in lbs?

Another old fart here that can only work in imperial

I'm sure they thought they were doing us a favour by teaching us metric at school while the real world worked in imperial... My father used to shout at me often because I didn't know how many ounces were in a lb or whatever, and I can't do the conversion either. There must be others like us who got lost along the way?

That's exactly it, Evenhope. Metric was for maths at school, the real world used imperial. So I know how much cheese is 1/4 lb or how far 12 feet is. But I can't grasp what half a kilometre looks like!

Which mp do we have to talk to about marathons and opal fruits, and Jif?

I'm an old fart too. So much easier to work out the size of a room, when dh's feet are almost a foot long!

Don't forget Oil of Ulay too JH!

Another old fart here, and proud of it. I was born in 1971 when metric was introduced and cannot get my head around it. I know I am over a metre tall but that's about it.

Can well believe the govt loving the crap that the EU introduces.

My pet hate was the fridge mountain thing.

Maureen, my dh reckons if you hold out your arms either side of your torso the width is as long as your body. So when viewing a house, you can get a rough idea of space (my dh is six foot tall, which is kind of handy).

I can see why scientists like metric, much easier to do complex calculations and probably more exact or something. But can't we mere mortals keep our measurements based on the human body and human activity?

Oh, I loved learning metric at school, much easier to work out the sums. The fact that I had no idea what a kilo looked like or how it related to lbs and stones was neithe rnear nor there.

Glad we have a metric currency though, don't think I could have coped with pounds, shillings and pence.

I can only properly understand people's weights in imperial,
ditto people's heights
and long distances in miles
and for no real reason I sometimes prefer inches to centimetres

prefer to measure liquids in ml though
and very short distances in mm
and small weights in grams

am a mixed-up old fart

I'm an old f*rt too as I like Imperial. In my defence, though, I do try to use the metric system. At least it keeps my aging brain cells alert by doing conversions in my head.