4 ms·

In rural 1990s Ireland... Stones were used for weighing people. Kiligrams for livestock, feed and such. Pounds, pints and such for food and groceries. Iirc, mp

In rural 1990s Ireland... Stones were used for weighing people. Kiligrams for livestock, feed and such. Pounds, pints and such for food and groceries. Iirc, mph was used for speed limits. KMs for distance.

jahnu 3y ago
It wasn't really limited to rural Ireland. MPH was on all speed limit signs and was because all vehicles were imported from the UK where MPH were and still are standard and the entire Irish fleet didn't yet have dual speed markings on the speedometer. Once they did then the signage was exchange countrywide within weeks, if I remember correctly. Distance signs were changed slowly over a longer period as it wasn't so critical to the safety of driving. Stones and feet for people's weight it still used in common parlance, again not limited to rural Ireland. This is just the inertia of tradition. Doctors and such professionals would always use metric now of course. With the exception of pints of beer which is still the standard today, food and groceries were already metric in the 90s. Source: I grew up in rural Ireland ;)
- mr_toad 3y ago
  > With the exception of pints of beer which is still the standard today Maybe in Ireland. Round here ‘pints’ keep getting smaller.
  - seanc 3y ago
    "This town wouldn't be so bad if a quart of milk were still a dollar. Or even if a quart of milk... was still a quart" - Cowboy Junkies, Horse in the Country
  - jahnu 3y ago
    Would be a quick way to either start a riot or kill your business :)
BoxOfRain 3y ago
We still buy milk and draught beer by the pint in the UK and mph/yards are used on the road. Height is almost always in feet and inches whereas body weight might be stone or kilos depending on personal taste. Most other things are metric and have been for a while but there's a few random exceptions, bridges use both feet/inches and metres!

4 ms·

In rural 1990s Ireland... Stones were used for weighing people. Kiligrams for livestock, feed and such. Pounds, pints and such for food and groceries. Iirc, mp

by dalbasal 3y ago

jahnu 3y ago
It wasn't really limited to rural Ireland. MPH was on all speed limit signs and was because all vehicles were imported from the UK where MPH were and still are standard and the entire Irish fleet didn't yet have dual speed markings on the speedometer. Once they did then the signage was exchange countrywide within weeks, if I remember correctly. Distance signs were changed slowly over a longer period as it wasn't so critical to the safety of driving. Stones and feet for people's weight it still used in common parlance, again not limited to rural Ireland. This is just the inertia of tradition. Doctors and such professionals would always use metric now of course. With the exception of pints of beer which is still the standard today, food and groceries were already metric in the 90s. Source: I grew up in rural Ireland ;)
- mr_toad 3y ago
  > With the exception of pints of beer which is still the standard today Maybe in Ireland. Round here ‘pints’ keep getting smaller.
  - seanc 3y ago
    "This town wouldn't be so bad if a quart of milk were still a dollar. Or even if a quart of milk... was still a quart" - Cowboy Junkies, Horse in the Country
  - jahnu 3y ago
    Would be a quick way to either start a riot or kill your business :)
BoxOfRain 3y ago
We still buy milk and draught beer by the pint in the UK and mph/yards are used on the road. Height is almost always in feet and inches whereas body weight might be stone or kilos depending on personal taste. Most other things are metric and have been for a while but there's a few random exceptions, bridges use both feet/inches and metres!