Metric System

Blisterman

I was just thinking about how little we use the metric system in our day to day lives, despite having being exclusivly taught it in school.
I only understand height in imperial, same with miles in distance and mph for speed.
I use inches for measuring Pizza's, records and monitors.
I understand kilograms for measuring weight, from going to the gym, so thats one thing anyway. Also litres for measuring fluids (except for pints)

Is anyone else here 100% metric?

Sparky

id say i use metric alot, especially when measuring, i do it in inch's
and pints and kg i use aswell.
i suppose we were all used to mph in speed but since im on th road i had to get used to kmh, but i always in the back of my mind compare it to mph

Gone West

There are a huge number of scientific and industrial benifets to using metric.
decimal > fractions
and all that.

Wertz

I'd say most of us are of the lucky generation who can work quite well in either, with some exceptions...metric is definitely easier but imperial seems to work better for some things...

Third_Echelon

My lad is 15.24 centimeters... gosh i feel really european now

miss_gonzo

i dont know inches or miles

i use centimeters, meters, kilometeres, etc.

seamus

I can work well with metric, but when someone tells me "one foot" I understand how long that is. When it comes to calculation though, I always convert to metric before proceeding. I've no idea how many feet in a yard, how many yards in a mile, how many drams in a pennyweight, etc etc, and no desire to find out.

robinph

miss_gonzo wrote:

i dont know inches or miles

i use centimeters, meters, kilometeres, etc.

But what do you measure your height and weight in?

r3boot

miss_gonzo wrote:

i dont know inches or miles

i use centimeters, meters, kilometeres, etc.

ditto

I could never bother with imperial becuase metric was all that was used back home.

grimloch

Could probably use both. I'd be perfectly content to hear it was 2 km or 2 miles long.

Although for the bits I notice I would tend to use imperial measurements more.

Reaver772

Imperial = British
Metric = French

Use the irish system
Just down the road, A fare bit down the road, or Jesus its bleedin miles away!

Mucco

Metric is just so simple:

How many grams in 5.378 kilograms?
How many ounces in 5.378 stone?

I rest my case.

Kermitt

Mucco wrote:

Metric is just so simple:

How many grams in 5.378 kilograms?
How many ounces in 5.378 stone?

I rest my case.

Stones were never measured with decimal.. only fraction you twit. 12 ounces in a pound.. 14 pounds in a stone...case null and void.

Anyway.. I have to be competent in both, cos I work part time in a hardware suppliers, and we sell metric and imperial equipment. I was raised on imperial, but learned metric in school..Obviously metric is more logical.. the decimal system revolutionised the world, but there's a wierd charm about the 'old money' measurements that will die out in a couple of generations.. pity that

WellyJ

Sparky_S wrote:

id say i use metric alot, especially when measuring, i do it in inch's
and pints and kg i use aswell.
i suppose we were all used to mph in speed but since im on th road i had to get used to kmh, but i always in the back of my mind compare it to mph

Inches arent metric

Kermitt

WellyJ wrote:

Inches arent metric

Neither are pints!! Ignorance is bliss anyone???

WellyJ

Meh,

Didnt even read that far into the post,

Just decided to correct the first mistake

miss_gonzo

robinph wrote:

But what do you measure your height and weight in?

damn good point

actually for height, i could use both systems
but for weight i use lbs

amacachi

Kermitt wrote:

Stones were never measured with decimal.. only fraction you twit. 12 ounces in a pound.. 14 pounds in a stone...case null and void.

Anyway.. I have to be competent in both, cos I work part time in a hardware suppliers, and we sell metric and imperial equipment. I was raised on imperial, but learned metric in school..Obviously metric is more logical.. the decimal system revolutionised the world, but there's a wierd charm about the 'old money' measurements that will die out in a couple of generations.. pity that

is it not 16 ounces in a pound?

grimloch

amacachi wrote:

is it not 16 ounces in a pound?

Yep. Although the exact measurements weren't entirely necessary to his post.

Zaph

Kermitt wrote:

Stones were never measured with decimal.. only fraction you twit. 12 ounces in a pound.. 14 pounds in a stone...case null and void.

Ahem...16 ounces in a pound. Kids these days, they learn nothing in school :rolleyes:

Zaph

miss_gonzo wrote:

i dont know inches or miles

i use centimeters, meters, kilometeres, etc.

Yeah, but if you were living amongst your southern neighbours then you wouldn't have a clue what a metre was. They have a lot of catching up to do there.

miss_gonzo

zaph wrote:

Yeah, but if you were living amongst your southern neighbours then you wouldn't have a clue what a metre was. They have a lot of catching up to do there.

and imagine if i tried using celsius there as well, that would cause some madness wouldn it

Zaph

I've tried using celsius with some American friends. It's like speaking Greek to them. I don't bother any more and just use their ridiculously outdated system when I'm talking to them.

robinph

The daft thing is that I have a fair idea as to how far a meter is, but I have know idea how tall I am in metric, and I could guesstimate if something ways a kilogram, but I wouldn't know my weight in metric.

Some things just seem to make more sense to me in one system or the other:

volumes of alcohol at <8% - imperial
volumes of alcohol at >8% - metric
short distances ( across a room ) - metric
long distances ( from one side of the country to the other ) - imperial
weights and distances about ones person :eek: - imperial
temperature - metric ( unless the weather man says that it reached 100, which I know means hot too )
speed - imperial

Guess I'm just a bit confused.

Mr.Nice Guy

Pfft. The metric system is the tool of the devil! My car gets forty rods to the hogshead and that's the way I likes it!

Mucco

Kermitt wrote:

Stones were never measured with decimal.. only fraction you twit. 12 ounces in a pound.. 14 pounds in a stone...case null and void.

OK, how many 16ths of an ounce in 12 stone 8 pounds?

And as others have pointed out, if you're going to call someone else a twit, you should really get your facts right.

M

Kermitt

apologies on the inaccuracy.. slip of the hand methinks. :mad: i'm not going to get into childish arguments Mucco.. just pointing out that Imperial measurements aren't written in decimal.

rubadub

I wish I never got so used to metric, especially now the miles are gone from road signs. I am trying to get rid of the miles and stop converting, I stopped converting euro-punt early on.

The thing I hate most is looking at stuff on the net, not knowing if they are talking about US pints or british pints/ gallons. Then the US have the "cup" :rolleyes:
also many just day "degrees" instead of F or C. If talking about weather it may be obvious but for material properties/recipies it is annoying.

metric is so simple.
10cmx10cmx10cm=1litre. 1 litre of water = 1kg (approx). They are all inter-related for easy calculation and estimation.

0C is freezing 100C is boiling water. What significance does any farenheit readings have?

pickarooney

I'm fairly bimetrical, but will always use imperial measurements when speaking figuratively.
"He was 3.41 metres tall" or "it's kilometres away" just don't cut it.
Ireland is definitely ambiguous wrt the metric system. We buy litres of milk and pints of beer, follow signposts in kilometres and speed limits in miles per hour (though apparently that's changed recently), use metres and grams in physics and inches and ounces in woodwork and home economics, hot days are measured in Celcius, but fevers in Fahrenheit...
actually has anyone ever made sense of Fahrenheit? Both it and Celcius were invented within a couple of years of one another and while once makes clear sense to anyone wanting to understand it, the other is a thing of great mystery.

rubadub

No matter what laws are passed cocks and tits will always be measured in inches

Hagar

Old lady enters shop...

Old Lady: Can I have a 2lb bag of sugar please?
Shopkeeper: I'm sorry. None of that any more. It's all kilos now you see.
Old Lady: Ok, can I have a 2lb bag of kilos then?

Kermitt

Hagar wrote:

Old lady enters shop...

Old Lady: Can I have a 2lb bag of sugar please?
Shopkeeper: I'm sorry. None of that any more. It's all kilos now you see.
Old Lady: Ok, can I have a 2lb bag of kilos then?

He he good man hagar.. me likes!

Blisterman

Fahrenheit was designed so that the average body temperature would be 100.
Unfortunatly he got it wrong.

I might add that degrees celcius isn't metric either, Metric is Kelvins.

pickarooney

I think Celcius is metric but Kelvins (worst-named unit ever, I reckon, it's like -25 Buddies or 18 Brads, FFS) are SI.

Can anyone think of a worse-named unit? there are some pretty awful ones (and cool ones like hogshead) out there.

Kermitt

pickarooney wrote:

I think Celcius is metric but Kelvins (worst-named unit ever, I reckon, it's like -25 Buddies or 18 Brads, FFS) are SI.

Can anyone think of a worse-named unit? there are some pretty awful ones (and cool ones like hogshead) out there.

Just named after the guy who devised it of course...I heard of a unit before called a 'mole' which is a bit rubbish.. its a unit of volume from physics <i think>

pickarooney

yeah, something to do with the number of molecules in something else

dont forget decimetres!

grimloch

Deleted User wrote:

dont forget decimetres!

Ah they never really caught on though. Not really a useful measurement, one of the forgotten measurements.

Victor

Kermitt wrote:

Just named after the guy who devised it of course...I heard of a unit before called a 'mole' which is a bit rubbish.. its a unit of volume from physics <i think>

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mole_%28unit%29

daveirl

This post has been deleted.

4Xcut

seamus wrote:

I've no idea how many feet in a yard, how many yards in a mile, how many drams in a pennyweight, etc etc, and no desire to find out.

3 feet to a yard
5 and a half yards to a perch
40 perches to a furlong
8 furlongs to a mile
1760 yards to a mile
2240 yards to a long mile(though this has not been used in many years, maybe its where the name for "The Long Mile Road" comes from)

*steps back through the portal to 1913*

4Xcut

Mr.Nice Guy wrote:

Pfft. The metric system is the tool of the devil! My car gets forty rods to the hogshead and that's the way I likes it!

Sorry about the double post but i only noticed this post now.

The hogshead was actually used to measure beer the simpsons was wrong
*awaits gasps*