I'm 10 stone, 5 foot 9 and l live 25 miles away. My baby is 7 lb 8 oz

Eleven Benevolent Elephants

FFS the amount of people under 40 still using these ridiculous antiquated units baffles me.

Christ. Metric is so much more reliable and logical.

My local butcher advertises by the lb, not kg.

My local carpet shop advertises by the square yard not m2.

Car dealers advertise by mpg not l/100km. Jesus. Fuel is sold by the litre here and road signs are in km.

Midwives automatically say baby's weight in lb/Oz instead of kg.

Grandpa Simpson reference out of the way early.

eviltimeban

.

mloc123

People are slow to adapt to change .. shocker

the beer revolu

Can you show me a metre?

Man with broke phone

If I was five foot nine and ten stone I wouldnt be going around mouthing off to midwives never mind butchers.

the beer revolu

Use the litre wine bottle!

littlevillage

I'm 10 stone, 5 foot 9 and l live 25 miles away. My baby is 7 lb 8 oz. and there's a bear outside the door.....what colour is the bear?

peasant

Most funny when go to buy some wood that's advertised and sold as twobyfour but actually measures 50 x 100 mm

And the next time round in the woodshop, having learned your lesson, you look and ask for 50 x 100 and they only real 2 by 4 ...which of course doesn't fit what you planned using it for.

Charlie19

I'd murder a few 568 millilitres.

Pkiernan

Eleven Benevolent Elephants wrote: »

FFS the amount of people under 40 still using these ridiculous antiquated units baffles me.

Christ. Metric is so much more reliable and logical.

My local butcher advertises by the lb, not kg.

My local carpet shop advertises by the square yard not m2.

Car dealers advertise by mpg not l/100km. Jesus. Fuel is sold by the litre here and road signs are in km.

Midwives automatically say baby's weight in lb/Oz instead of kg.

Grandpa Simpson reference out of the way early.

The woke is strong with this one

endacl

Not sure how to express it in metric, but I couldn’t give the short half of a shiny Shute.

Quantum Erasure

Hot single mothers in your area

mickdw

Flooring shops stick to sq yards as the headline rate looks alittle better. If one shop started putting prices in sqm, people would just look at the advertised figure and think it was dearer than the others.

I'm 5'8 and 92kg

Wibbs

I grew up as a child in the 70's during the changeover and so still use both to some degree, and odd to myself... I think in metres and millimetres on the one hand, but revert to inches and feet either side of that. One thing just in my humble mind that's missing from metric is the foot. It's a handy human sized measurement that's been around in some form for millennia(the cubit varied but was usually just over a foot, or the length of a forearm) and there's a gap in metric at that size level IMHO. A third of a metre(mixing again there ) doesn't cut it. I could drop inches for centimetres handily enough though. I would usually think in litres and rarely enough in fractions and the imperial nonsense at the sub inch scale of eleventy thousands of an inch I could not be dealing with. Centigrade goes without saying really. Height and weight in people I'd still be imperial all the way. I have zero idea what I weigh in kgs, though in fairness I've zero idea what I weigh in stones either so...

I tend to still think in miles as many people do and I reckon that's down to the fact that the kilometre on signs and speedos officially came to Ireland quite recently. 2006 IIRC? So for most unless driving an imported Japanese car say, they'd be thinking in miles and miles per gallon up to fifteen years ago. l/100km and KPH is quite "new". Hell I've been driving Jap imports since the 90's and still do the translation in my head to some degree. Certainly with MPG. I've only recently even worked out what my jalopy does in metric and that was only because of a phone app that talks to my car's ECU with GPS in the mix. Than again I'm a middle aged fart, so there's that.

Damn, thought this was going to be a riddle.

Ubbquittious

I think we should bring back the imperial measurements for everyday ordinary stuff just for the sake of being different to the dullards in mainland Europe. The lab coat crowd can stick to metric though, wouldn't even attempt converting those boys

Gruffalux

I am always going to convert 30 cm to 1 foot in my head and divide your kilometres by 8 only to multiply them then by 5 to understand where I am. And my babies will always have been whopping 10 pounders. A whopping 4 and a half kilo-er? Come on, man!

Sardonicat

Wibbs wrote: »

I grew up as a child in the 70's during the changeover and so still use both to some degree, and odd to myself... I think in metres and millimetres on the one hand, but revert to inches and feet either side of that. One thing just in my humble mind that's missing from metric is the foot. It's a handy human sized measurement that's been around in some form for millennia(the cubit varied but was usually just over a foot, or the length of a forearm) and there's a gap in metric at that size level IMHO. A third of a metre(mixing again there ) doesn't cut it. I could drop inches for centimetres handily enough though. I would usually think in litres and rarely enough in fractions and the imperial nonsense at the sub inch scale of eleventy thousands of an inch I could not be dealing with. Centigrade goes without saying really. Height and weight in people I'd still be imperial all the way. I have zero idea what I weigh in kgs, though in fairness I've zero idea what I weigh in stones either so...

I tend to still think in miles as many people do and I reckon that's down to the fact that the kilometre on signs and speedos officially came to Ireland quite recently. 2006 IIRC? So for most unless driving an imported Japanese car say, they'd be thinking in miles and miles per gallon up to fifteen years ago. l/100km and KPH is quite "new". Hell I've been driving Jap imports since the 90's and still do the translation in my head to some degree. Certainly with MPG. I've only recently even worked out what my jalopy does in metric and that was only because of a phone app that talks to my car's ECU with GPS in the mix. Than again I'm a middle aged fart, so there's that.

I was born the year we changed to metric (I think) so, like you I was educated in metric but the world around still operated in imperial measures. The upshot of that is I have no clue how to assess or estimate anything in either. I use metric for liquid handy enough but dont ask me anything else. Big/small and near/far are as accurate as I get.

o1s1n

Wibbs wrote: »

One thing just in my humble mind that's missing from metric is the foot. It's a handy human sized measurement that's been around in some form for millennia(the cubit varied but was usually just over a foot, or the length of a forearm) and there's a gap in metric at that size level IMHO. A third of a metre(mixing again there ) doesn't cut it..

I was coming in here to post that very thing!

I use metric for everything but will still use feet to measure distances. A metre is just not relatable. As you said, people for millennia have been using sizes relatable to the human body to measure things, aka the cubit.

It's especially evident when measuring height. I'm 5'10 .. which is 1.8 metres. How does a brain even begin to visualise 1.8 metres? You need a measurement between M and CM.

Rather hilariously, I remember having an interaction with someone about this before who was convinced a 'foot' was a stupid measurement, not relatable and a metre was the default proper measurement.

The following ensued:

Me: 'Okay then, how do you visualise a metre?'

Them: 'I dunno, three wooden rulers?'

Me (trying not to let the cat out of the bag): 'how long is a wooden ruler?'

Them: '30cm'

me: 'How long is a foot?'

Them: 'I dunno..?'

Me: THIRTY ****ING CENTIMETERS!

...okay so it's 30.48cm but you get my point

Beasty

You're not been on this site furlong OP. We've discussed this dozens of times. Indeed Bakers Dozens of times. In fact if I had a guinea for every time I'd be worth £180 8s 6d plus that ha'penny I've stashed under the stone

the beer revolu

While we are all probably somewhat guilty of using both metric and imperial depending on what we are measuring, I certainly do - human weight and height is imperial for me. Most other things are metric, most of the time.


But why, oh why would anyone in the world use a scale that has water freezing at 32 degrees and boiling at 212 degrees? That's just stupid!
Oh, and -40f is the same as -40c!

tabby aspreme

What's going to happen in Brexitland, they use actual metric sizes, for plumbing fittings, and doors.

Allinall

I had a great imperial/ metric converter, but someone 1.25 centimetered it.

Thelonious Monk

Yes. Je deteste imperial measures. I weigh myself in kg and am coming around to height in CMs because dating apps use it. It could be worse, we could be the UK, or worse the USA with their fluid ounces.

Thelonious Monk

Thelonious Monk wrote: »

Yes. Je deteste imperial measures. I weigh myself in kg and am coming around to height in CMs because dating apps use it. It could be worse, we could be the UK, or worse the USA with their fluid ounces.

Speaking of fluid ounces. I found out US and UK ones are different measurements. So much for the states breaking away from their overlords

Mister Vain

o1s1n wrote: »

It's especially evident when measuring height. I'm 5'10 .. which is 1.8 metres. How does a brain even begin to visualise 1.8 metres? You need a measurement between M and CM.

Exactly. The metric system can get very confusing if its used on dating sites. I just assume I'm too short.

Kewreeuss

Hah! I think I'm one of those who moaned about this before, maybe 5-6 years ago. It still pisses me off.
But I do know a few 30 year olds who haven't a clue what a foot is or a mile. Maybe two generations down the road we'll be all using the one 'metric'.
House size that is quoted in square feet really takes the biscuit. I cannot visualise it at all. Just a blank.
And people give their weight in pounds!!
For the metrically minded, we half it and round down a bit for a rough idea.
But if you think in stones, trying to divide by 14 in your head is hard.

Snotty

Wait till you get into building supplies, I was shopping for perspex sheets, they come in 1 meter width and the lengths are feet, the ones I got are 1m x 10ft

Eleven Benevolent Elephants

Allinall wrote: »

I had a great imperial/ metric converter, but someone 1.25 centimetered it.

Someone half-iched it?

Allinall

Eleven Benevolent Elephants wrote: »

Someone half-iched it?

It was a tea leaf.

CelticRambler

<smug mode>:D Where I live, everyone's weight is expressed in kilos, our heights are in metres, we drink by the litre, and all the distances are in kilo-metres (none of your kill-measuring kill-ometers, thanks very much :mad: ).

Life is good!
</smug>

Frankie19

The rotunda refer to weight in KG.....as I had to ask them what it was in lbs so I could understand the baby's weight :-)

dxhound2005

Eleven Benevolent Elephants wrote: »

FFS the amount of people under 40 still using these ridiculous antiquated units baffles me.

The unit for counting people is number, not amount.

.anon.

The only thing I use imperial measurements for is dick size. I prefer to describe it as 10 inches, rather than 25.4 centimetres. I think it rolls off the tongue better. As it were.

cdeb

I'd say the people who argue we should use the same measurement system as everyone else are probably the first to argue that diversity and multi-culturalism is great. But not our culture/traditions. We can chuck that.

Archeron

littlevillage wrote: »

I'm 10 stone, 5 foot 9 and l live 25 miles away. My baby is 7 lb 8 oz. and there's a bear outside the door.....what colour is the bear?

Trick question, it's not a bear, it's two midgets in a bear suit.
Purple.

saabsaab

Most shopkeepers are still using the imperial system for weight alright but they are slow to take my old shillings and pence!

looksee

I was measuring stuff yesterday and was using the nearest handy number - if it measured at 10 inches I'd take that rather than try to remember 25.3 cm (or 253mm which confuses me). This was just short term measuring.

If I am doing serious measuring I'd use metric, but if I am measuring a room to more-or-less I would use feet - I can visualise 10ft better than 3.something meters.

I know my height and weight in imperial but can't do my weight in pounds, it has to be stones and pounds.

Timber is funny because you buy 2by1 or 3by2 (if you can get it, its all gone a bit scarce at the moment) by 4.5 meters long.

But as I complain every time one of these threads comes up, inches divide into halves, quarters etc. You cannot do inches in decimal. Its immoral.

Eleven Benevolent Elephants

Allinall wrote: »

It was a tea leaf.

?

.anon.

cdeb wrote: »

I'd say the people who argue we should use the same measurement system as everyone else are probably the first to argue that diversity and multi-culturalism is great. But not our culture/traditions. We can chuck that.

Imperial measurements aren't 'our' tradition. The clue is in the name.

cdeb

They are our tradition given they've been used here for far, far longer than metric.

"Tradition" doesn't mean we invented it.

peasant

I grew up in a metric country and my mind is calibrated to metric.
I've only learned imperial units to communicate with people here.

I know that I'm 6ft 1, because I had to translate when people asked me.
But it still means nothing to me ...1meter eighty six however does.

Watching documentaries where they mention the height of mountains in feet...means absolutely nothing. If I'm really bothered I pause the video and translate to meters ..then it makes sense.

Liter/100 km is a funny one. I understand it without thinking ...mpg ...not a clue.
But really, it should be km / liter (like they do in SA and Australia(it think)) that really makes sense ...even though I don't understand it.

Another motoring related one is PS / KW. Here I'm old fashioned myself. KW is the official metric unit ...but I understand only PS, because that's what I was calibrated to.

Pound foot on the other hand ...useless, has to be Newtonmeter

saabsaab

Imperial may be Roman origin?
As in Lsd


L Librus(pound of silver)
s Solidus (Gold coin of a certain weight 4.5g)
d Denarius (Small silver coin, 4.5g)

.anon.

cdeb wrote: »

They are our tradition given they've been used here for far, far longer than metric.

"Tradition" doesn't mean we invented it.

It's an outdated and unnecessarily complicated system of measurement, vastly inferior to metric in every possible way. Historically interesting though, so it's nice that elements of it (pints, for example) continue to survive.

cdeb

"Outdated" is a meaningless, subjective term with no real evidence for it in reality.

It's not inferior to metric in every way - it's actually quite useful in practical terms because you don't get lost in zeroes, the numbers tend to be smaller which aids mental calculations (ie after x number of feet, you switch to a yard, whereas in metric you're off multiplying increasingly large numbers of metres), you can measure off your thumb (inch), foot (foot), etc, and because it helps you with maths. Maths skills would increase if people used imperial measures more.

cdeb

saabsaab wrote: »

Imperial may be Roman origin?
As in Lsd


L Librus(pound of silver)
s Solidus (Gold coin of a certain weight 4.5g)
d Denarius (Small silver coin, 4.5g)

Yup. And the word "mile" comes from "mille passuum", or a thousand paces, which is how the Romans calculated a mile. Other examples too I'm sure.

saabsaab

Prefer the metric myself but I'd find it hard to order a pint in metric. What would you call it?


Half litre (a bit less)


Litre, grand but harder to hold in your hand.

Ten of Swords

Unless you measure liquid volumes in Hogsheads, and measure distance in Smoots, I have no time for you

Esel

saabsaab wrote: »

Prefer the metric myself but I'd find it hard to order a pint in metric. What would you call it?

568 ml of your finest porter, my good man.

saabsaab

Esel wrote: »

568 ml of your finest porter, my good man.

Must try that the next time I'm in the pub. Then again maybe not the landlord might get annoyed and bar me.