Imperial vs Metric

[coprolite]

6 hours ago, lichtgilphead said:

Technically we do have metric time..

The primary unit of time (the second) is defined in metric terms. It's something to do with vibrations of a cesium atom.

I'm not aware of any meaningful imperial definition.

It's a 60th of a 60th of a 24th of a day. 

Babylonian rather than British imperial, judging by the base 60.

[Fullerene]

In Canada, they switched from miles to kilometres but not everybody was happy with that.

As a result, if someone asks them how far is it to drive to somewhere, they will reply in hours and minutes.

[Jacksgranda]

10 hours ago, welshbairn said:

Only the officers, who were too thick to tell the difference with metric and got the top jobs because of their moustaches.

I could nearly believe that.

[whiskychimp]

13 hours ago, MeadowArab said:

15 hours ago, Ludo*1 said:

So we're agreed then? Imperial is the way forward.
Genuine question what do other Europeans ask for in the pub when they want their equivalent of the finest brew?!

I was in a home ware shop a while ago, and they were selling packs of pint glasses alongside packs of "metric pint glasses". These glasses were 500ml.

Metric pint glasses are great. Most cans come in a metric pint. 

[Shandon Par]

Eazy E (RIP) used to claim that his erect penis was "at least a yard". 

[superbigal]

1 hour ago, whiskychimp said:

Metric pint glasses are great. Most cans come in a metric pint. 

They don't handle the metric head well though as they are usually exact capacity.

Scottish pint glasses hold more than a pint.

[Hedgecutter]

Height of people: feet

Height of hills: metres

Height of a horse: hands

Short distance: metres

Distance between places: miles

Distance if driving: hours

Beer & milk: pints

Irn Bru: litres

Very large volumes: Olympic sized swimming pools

Extremely large volumes: Loch Nesses

Temperature: Celcius

Weight of a person: stone

Weight of mince: pounds

Weight of chicken: grams

Weight of anything else: kilos, grams

Area of a room: metres squared

Area of Fife: square miles

Area of Russia: area-the-size-of-Wales'

 

Thought this was pretty standard tbh.

 

[Melanius Mullarkey]

Just now, Hedgecutter said:

Height of people and their body parts: feet, inches
Height of hills: metres
Height of a horse: hands
Short distance: metres
Distance between places: miles
Distance if driving: hours
Beer & milk: pints
Irn Bru: litres
Very large volumes: Olympic sized swimming pools
Temperature: Celcius
Weight of a person: stone
Weight of mince: pounds
Weight of chicken: grams
Weight of anything else: kilos, grams
Area of a room: metres squared
Area of Fife: square miles
Area of Russia: area-the-size-of-Wales'

Thought this was pretty standard tbh.
 

The best one I once heard was in a telly programme which did the usual measuring of height in London (not any other kind) Double Decker Buses and volume in Olympic Sized Swimming Pools.

It was pressure measured as the number of Eiffel Towers placed on top of a snooker table.

SI should definitely get Pascals to f**k and run with that one IMO.  Would keep the French happy as well. 

[The Moonster]

21 hours ago, Ludo*1 said:

Genuine question what do other Europeans ask for in the pub when they want their equivalent of the finest brew?!

Any time I've been in Europe and ordered beer they've always asked if it's a small beer or a large beer. Controversial, I know, but it seems to work out just fine.

[jagfox]

[mathematics]

Imperial is for c***s.

[lichtgilphead]

8 hours ago, superbigal said:

1) They don't handle the metric head well though as they are usually exact capacity.

2) Scottish pint glasses hold more than a pint.

1) Absolute nonsense. Stamped (CE marked) metric glasses have exactly the same percentage error allowances as imperial. A brim measure must contain at least the marked measurement, and can contain up to 10% in excess only.

This means that a 'pint' measure can contain any amount between 568.2 ml and 625 ml. Similarly, a 'half litre' measure can contain any amount between 500 ml & 550 ml

2) Whilst that is true, the head counts as part of the pint. In reality, the 'pint' served in most Scottish pubs is on average 5% short measure (around 540 ml)

[D.A.F.C]

Imperial gets messy beyond large things though.

A hundred weight, eight stone.  Aye ok then.

12 inches in a foot. Why? 

3 feet in a yard

1760 yards in a mile

thats numberwang

who came up with that shite?

[Cardinal Richelieu]

When Bob Beamon smashed the Long Jump world record at the 1968 Olympics, and he was told he'd jumped 8m 90cm, he'd no idea that he'd beaten the world record cos he didn't know metric measurements. Presumably, if he'd been told he jumped 29 ft. 2½ ", he'd be jumping about like a madman.

Obviously, on the continent, they have no concept of pints, so ordering a pint (assuming the barman knows what you're on about) will get you 500ml, which is okay. 

What rips my knitting is the Citizen M in Glasgow. Last time I was there, I clearly asked for a pint of one of their beers. They gave me a fucking schooner (two thirds of a pint) without so much as a comment. On my 2nd pint (really, or rather, my 2nd 2/3 of a pint) I asked why they hadn't given me a pint when I clearly asked for one. "Oh, we don't do pints any more. We do schooners", the barman said. "It's two thirds of a pint" he helpfully added. Doesn't stop the b*****ds charging the same price for a schooner as for a pint (and this is "toon" prices). 

 

 

[welshbairn]

4 minutes ago, D.A.F.C said:

 

13 inches in a foot. Why? 

 

Men like to overestimate the size of their penises. I have to do the opposite not to scare off the ladies, so deliberately mistake cm for inches.  

[welshbairn]

3 minutes ago, Cardinal Richelieu said:

When Bob Beamon smashed the Long Jump world record at the 1968 Olympics, and he was told he'd jumped 8m 90cm, he'd no idea that he'd beaten the world record cos he didn't know metric measurements. Presumably, if he'd been told he jumped 29 ft. 2½ ", he'd be jumping about like a madman.

Obviously, on the continent, they have no concept of pints, so ordering a pint (assuming the barman knows what you're on about) will get you 500ml, which is okay. 

What rips my knitting is the Citizen M in Glasgow. Last time I was there, I clearly asked for a pint of one of their beers. They gave me a fucking schooner (two thirds of a pint) without so much as a comment. On my 2nd pint (really, or rather, my 2nd 2/3 of a pint) I asked why they hadn't given me a pint when I clearly asked for one. "Oh, we don't do pints any more. We do schooners", the barman said. "It's two thirds of a pint" he helpfully added. Doesn't stop the b*****ds charging the same price for a schooner as for a pint (and this is "toon" prices). 

 

 

That used to be illegal I thought. Still entitled to demand your money back and go elsewhere. 

[jagfox]

I thought there were 12" in a foot?

[Cardinal Richelieu]

1 minute ago, welshbairn said:

That used to be illegal I thought. Still entitled to demand your money back and go elsewhere. 

Thought about it, but didn't really want to cause a scene though. Although after paying £13.60 for a "pint" and a JD + Coke was a bit much. At least they told me they didn't have JD and offered me an alternative. And the Coke was actually Coke and not fecking Barr's cola or something. 

[Cardinal Richelieu]

2 minutes ago, jagfox99 said:

I thought there were 12" in a foot?

And how come inches get an """ (that's a quotation mark inside quotation marks) whereas other units get an abbreviation? 

I demand answers. 

[D.A.F.C]

12 inches, ffs.

I did metric at school then found out everything was imperial. Still have no idea, it makes no sense.