5 ms·

I never understood why the Americans fought a war of independence, but then insist on using imperial units.

• stephenr 10y ago
  Literally, "it's too hard".
  • knz 10y ago
    "Too expensive" is also often used, which completely ignores the expense that every other country also incurred. My parents were teenagers when New Zealand went metric (and adopted decimal currency). They can still remember the musical jingles associated with helping people convert between common reference points (a pound of butter etc). They have also told me that most people just embraced it, recognising the benefits of the change. My grandparents still used imperial units into the 80's but have fully converted now.
• pc2g4d 10y ago
  http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2015/06/whos-afraid-of-the-metric-system/395057/ http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2015/06/whos-a... According to the article, it's about screw thread measurements. And the cultural aspect. The fact that the abbreviation for the system is SI which is short for a French phrase makes it seem foreign. And FRENCH. Which many Americans seem to hate.
  • stephenr 10y ago
    Given how much manufacturing has been outsourced I doubt this would still hold weight, and honestly at this point I imagine most international toolmakers are building in mm and simply providing the ridiculous fractions of an inch measurement for American markets.