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"Almost everyone else in the world uses metric in everyday life." RLY? Hello from the UK! Here we are metricated in general and then it goes a bit mad. As y

"Almost everyone else in the world uses metric in everyday life." RLY? Hello from the UK! Here we are metricated in general and then it goes a bit mad. As you know we generally have at least five ways of saying the same thing. Well actually we don't any more. Mostly metricated but we still have inches and feet etc hanging on in there. I suspect that most other countries are the same. I recall (my Mum) buying stuff in West German markets by der pfund (slightly larger than the Imperial pound, I think). We used to measure spirits by the gill and when we joined the EU after a while we metricated most of our measures to this: https://www.gov.uk/weights-measures-and-packaging-the-law/specified-quantities https://www.gov.uk/weights-measures-and-packaging-the-law/sp... We still drink pints (obvs!)

skissane 3y ago
> RLY? Hello from the UK! I did say almost everyone. The UK is unusual in still retaining significantly more pre-metric units than the average country does, although still much less than the US. Road distances in miles and speed limits in miles per hour being the most obvious one. Almost everywhere on earth, other than the US and UK (and maybe a tiny handful more, such as Burma/Myanmar, Liberia, Antigua), road distances are in kilometres. > I suspect that most other countries are the same. Many countries have some occasional lingering use of pre-metric measurements, but 90%+ of day-to-day units are metric. In the US, it is the other way around, 90%+ of day-to-day units are non-metric. The UK is unusual in lying somewhere in-between. > I recall (my Mum) buying stuff in West German markets by der pfund (slightly larger than the Imperial pound, I think). Since 1854, Germany has used the "metric pound" (pfund) of 500 grams exactly, as opposed to the US/UK pound of exactly 453.59237 grams (since 1959; before then, the US and UK had slightly different definitions of the pound). Prior to the metric system, almost every country in Europe had its own unique "pound", all of which were around about (but not exactly) 500 grams. Some countries (e.g Australia) metricated by dropping the pound entirely, but several West European countries (such as France and Germany) instead metricated it to be exactly 500 grams. Arguably, the metric pound actually is a metric unit (0.5kg is a sufficiently round multiple of the base unit, even if a power of 2 instead of 10), whereas the US/UK pound is not (nobody would consider 0.45359237 to be round) > We still drink pints (obvs!) In Australia, we still measure beer by pints too. But our pint is different from the UK pint. The UK pint is exactly 568.26125 mL. The US liquid pint is exactly 473.176473 mL. In Australia, a pint of beer is exactly 570 mL (metricated by rounding up from the UK pint), except (for obscure historical reasons no one seems to be able to explain) in South Australia were a pint is instead defined as 425 mL (a volume of beer which in other Australian states is called a "schooner"). However, stuff like beer sizes falls into that "10% of surviving non-metric" which many countries have, so I don't think it really counts.
- gerdesj 3y ago
  I studied Civ Eng at uni (poly. really) and engineering in the UK uses SI units exclusively except when we don't! Miles and mph and pints are largely the main leftovers. A yard is nearly a metre so that survives too and is conveniently made up of three feet and they are around 30cm, which is a short ruler. An inch is 2 1/2 cm and is roughly the size of your thumb to the first joint. The pound is a small half kilo. Spirits were metricated decades ago (25ml = 1 measure or "single", I think there is a 35ml measure for lower alc. spirits) and so were wine measures (125ml and 250ml). Farenheit is no longer a thing these days here. I remember people talking about temps into the "100s" eg when Wimbledon was on and it was a proper scorcher. Have not heard that in at least 10 years, probably closer to 20. Ironically enough we have had a lot of record breaking temps in the last 10 years, across a record of about 150 years of decent data. I'd love to see you pour a pint to five decimal places! Our Weights and Measures Act of ??? used to be pretty draconian and so was enforcement but that seems to have slipped somewhat. Our pint glass has a mark next to a crown (and an EU marking!) and the beer must hit it - you don't have to allow for the shape of the meniscus but a German used to having a decent "Feltwebel" (a nickname for the head on a beer - Sgt Major) is going to get into trouble! We also have special pint glasses with a longer section above the rib to allow for a larger head but still allow the pint mark to be met. I haven't seen those for a while. I note you mention schooners and the like in AUS (and why on earth do you have a different pint size - it doesn't really matter) and that basically proves my point about routine odd units still in use, everywhere. We all have our little peccadilloes ...
  - skissane 3y ago
    > A yard is nearly a metre so that survives too and is conveniently made up of three feet and they are around 30cm, which is a short ruler. An inch is 2 1/2 cm and is roughly the size of your thumb to the first joint. The pound is a small half kilo I think a lot of people who have attachment to non-metric units, their attachment is more to the names (and in some cases the interrelationships) rather than the precise values. I wonder why more consideration wasn't given to metrication by redefinition: 1 metric inch = 25.0 mm exactly (0.4 mm shorter than the old inch) 1 metric foot = 30 cm exactly (4.8 mm shorter than the old foot) 1 metric yard = either 90 cm exactly (1.44 cm shorter than old yard) or 1 metre exactly (8.56 cm longer) 1 metric mile = either 1.5 km exactly (609 m shorter than the old mile) or 1.6 km exactly (9 m shorter than the old mile) (either way, with 1 metre = 1 metric yard, 1 mile would be either 1500 or 1600 yards, which is easier to remember than 1760) 1 metric pound = 500 grams (46.41 g heavier than the old pound) 1 metric ounce = either 30 grams (so a metric pound is actually 16⅔ metric ounces–1.65 grams heavier than the old ounce) or 31.25 grams (so a metric pound is exactly 16 metric ounces–2.95 grams heavier) or 25 grams (20 metric ounces to a metric pound, 3.35 grams lighter than the old metric pound) I know some people would get confused by old versus metric, but people already have to deal with some of that already (e.g. troy ounces vs avoirdupois ounces, short vs long ton, UK vs US gallon, statute miles vs nautical miles, etc). Actually some European countries did pursue this approach seriously – both France and Germany redefined the "pound" as 500g in the 19th century, and in both countries it still sees some use in informal contexts. But in the English speaking world, it was considered, but for whatever reason never seriously pursued. > I'd love to see you pour a pint to five decimal places! I wonder why the UK doesn't follow (most of) Australia's example and redefine the pint (for the purposes of draught beer only) as 570 mL? > I note you mention schooners and the like in AUS (and why on earth do you have a different pint size - it doesn't really matter) and that basically proves my point about routine odd units still in use, everywhere. People don't really think of standardised beer glass sizes as units of measure. Nobody would try to measure anything (except the quantity of beer they've drunk) in schooners, unless they were indulging in a colourful metaphor. Traditionally Australia has this complicated system of 6-7 different beer glass sizes, which is somewhat different in each state – originally they were all defined in terms imperial fluid ounces, and then with metrication they were rounded off to the nearest 5mL – but in practice most places only have two of them on offer, occasionally a third. So a "pint" in Australia is really no more a unit of measure than a "schooner" or "middy" or "pot" is. A few places (generally German/Austrian themed bars/restaurants) also sell draught beer by the stein (1 litre) or half-stein (500 mL). Unlike the UK, in Australia you can legally sell draught beer in whatever sized glass you wish, so long as it isn't likely to deceive customers.

skissane 3y ago

> RLY? Hello from the UK! I did say almost everyone. The UK is unusual in still retaining significantly more pre-metric units than the average country does, although still much less than the US. Road distances in miles and speed limits in miles per hour being the most obvious one. Almost everywhere on earth, other than the US and UK (and maybe a tiny handful more, such as Burma/Myanmar, Liberia, Antigua), road distances are in kilometres. > I suspect that most other countries are the same. Many countries have some occasional lingering use of pre-metric measurements, but 90%+ of day-to-day units are metric. In the US, it is the other way around, 90%+ of day-to-day units are non-metric. The UK is unusual in lying somewhere in-between. > I recall (my Mum) buying stuff in West German markets by der pfund (slightly larger than the Imperial pound, I think). Since 1854, Germany has used the "metric pound" (pfund) of 500 grams exactly, as opposed to the US/UK pound of exactly 453.59237 grams (since 1959; before then, the US and UK had slightly different definitions of the pound). Prior to the metric system, almost every country in Europe had its own unique "pound", all of which were around about (but not exactly) 500 grams. Some countries (e.g Australia) metricated by dropping the pound entirely, but several West European countries (such as France and Germany) instead metricated it to be exactly 500 grams. Arguably, the metric pound actually is a metric unit (0.5kg is a sufficiently round multiple of the base unit, even if a power of 2 instead of 10), whereas the US/UK pound is not (nobody would consider 0.45359237 to be round) > We still drink pints (obvs!) In Australia, we still measure beer by pints too. But our pint is different from the UK pint. The UK pint is exactly 568.26125 mL. The US liquid pint is exactly 473.176473 mL. In Australia, a pint of beer is exactly 570 mL (metricated by rounding up from the UK pint), except (for obscure historical reasons no one seems to be able to explain) in South Australia were a pint is instead defined as 425 mL (a volume of beer which in other Australian states is called a "schooner"). However, stuff like beer sizes falls into that "10% of surviving non-metric" which many countries have, so I don't think it really counts.

gerdesj 3y ago
I studied Civ Eng at uni (poly. really) and engineering in the UK uses SI units exclusively except when we don't! Miles and mph and pints are largely the main leftovers. A yard is nearly a metre so that survives too and is conveniently made up of three feet and they are around 30cm, which is a short ruler. An inch is 2 1/2 cm and is roughly the size of your thumb to the first joint. The pound is a small half kilo. Spirits were metricated decades ago (25ml = 1 measure or "single", I think there is a 35ml measure for lower alc. spirits) and so were wine measures (125ml and 250ml). Farenheit is no longer a thing these days here. I remember people talking about temps into the "100s" eg when Wimbledon was on and it was a proper scorcher. Have not heard that in at least 10 years, probably closer to 20. Ironically enough we have had a lot of record breaking temps in the last 10 years, across a record of about 150 years of decent data. I'd love to see you pour a pint to five decimal places! Our Weights and Measures Act of ??? used to be pretty draconian and so was enforcement but that seems to have slipped somewhat. Our pint glass has a mark next to a crown (and an EU marking!) and the beer must hit it - you don't have to allow for the shape of the meniscus but a German used to having a decent "Feltwebel" (a nickname for the head on a beer - Sgt Major) is going to get into trouble! We also have special pint glasses with a longer section above the rib to allow for a larger head but still allow the pint mark to be met. I haven't seen those for a while. I note you mention schooners and the like in AUS (and why on earth do you have a different pint size - it doesn't really matter) and that basically proves my point about routine odd units still in use, everywhere. We all have our little peccadilloes ...
- skissane 3y ago
  > A yard is nearly a metre so that survives too and is conveniently made up of three feet and they are around 30cm, which is a short ruler. An inch is 2 1/2 cm and is roughly the size of your thumb to the first joint. The pound is a small half kilo I think a lot of people who have attachment to non-metric units, their attachment is more to the names (and in some cases the interrelationships) rather than the precise values. I wonder why more consideration wasn't given to metrication by redefinition: 1 metric inch = 25.0 mm exactly (0.4 mm shorter than the old inch) 1 metric foot = 30 cm exactly (4.8 mm shorter than the old foot) 1 metric yard = either 90 cm exactly (1.44 cm shorter than old yard) or 1 metre exactly (8.56 cm longer) 1 metric mile = either 1.5 km exactly (609 m shorter than the old mile) or 1.6 km exactly (9 m shorter than the old mile) (either way, with 1 metre = 1 metric yard, 1 mile would be either 1500 or 1600 yards, which is easier to remember than 1760) 1 metric pound = 500 grams (46.41 g heavier than the old pound) 1 metric ounce = either 30 grams (so a metric pound is actually 16⅔ metric ounces–1.65 grams heavier than the old ounce) or 31.25 grams (so a metric pound is exactly 16 metric ounces–2.95 grams heavier) or 25 grams (20 metric ounces to a metric pound, 3.35 grams lighter than the old metric pound) I know some people would get confused by old versus metric, but people already have to deal with some of that already (e.g. troy ounces vs avoirdupois ounces, short vs long ton, UK vs US gallon, statute miles vs nautical miles, etc). Actually some European countries did pursue this approach seriously – both France and Germany redefined the "pound" as 500g in the 19th century, and in both countries it still sees some use in informal contexts. But in the English speaking world, it was considered, but for whatever reason never seriously pursued. > I'd love to see you pour a pint to five decimal places! I wonder why the UK doesn't follow (most of) Australia's example and redefine the pint (for the purposes of draught beer only) as 570 mL? > I note you mention schooners and the like in AUS (and why on earth do you have a different pint size - it doesn't really matter) and that basically proves my point about routine odd units still in use, everywhere. People don't really think of standardised beer glass sizes as units of measure. Nobody would try to measure anything (except the quantity of beer they've drunk) in schooners, unless they were indulging in a colourful metaphor. Traditionally Australia has this complicated system of 6-7 different beer glass sizes, which is somewhat different in each state – originally they were all defined in terms imperial fluid ounces, and then with metrication they were rounded off to the nearest 5mL – but in practice most places only have two of them on offer, occasionally a third. So a "pint" in Australia is really no more a unit of measure than a "schooner" or "middy" or "pot" is. A few places (generally German/Austrian themed bars/restaurants) also sell draught beer by the stein (1 litre) or half-stein (500 mL). Unlike the UK, in Australia you can legally sell draught beer in whatever sized glass you wish, so long as it isn't likely to deceive customers.