Huh? Let me get this right, the common numerical relationship between inches / feet / miles, oz / pound / stones and quart / gallon / **** knows what is…
Now do the same with the metric equivalents and for extra help you can’t use your fingers.
Sorry, what is the question?
It really does make me sad that some supposedly learned people want to reject one of the finest accomplishments of human culture.
I couldn't agree more. There is a reason why it is called Imperial Measurements - it was given to the world by the British Empire.
Which is why its full name is "British Imperial Measurements" and also why it is something to be truly proud of.
Mind you inches, feet, and miles, were all given to us by the Romans.
As were the words British and Empire.
Thames Tv's take on the introduction with interviews bitd.😁
ask people in Australia how far somewhere is and you’ll often get an answer in hours.
And let's not forget that International Time/Zulu Time is BRITISH i.e. Greenwich Mean Time.
Which is definitely not metric.
Time may not be metric but it is universal. Unlike gallons.
4.54609.
I am amazed that someone could get into their 40’s and struggle with miles!
What type of miles are you referring to?
Roman, nautical, U.S survey mile, Imperial/international/statue mile?
Assuming the latter its fine on its own but its when you get more precise it starts becoming a pain in the neck.
Like most distance measurements prior to metric they have the problem of using the human body to try and determine things. Which given the variability of the body is bound to end in tears and some odd values. I mean why on earth is the imperial foot a size 13 shoe? Did they go looking for the giants in each settlement and hope?
The most depressing thing is the definition of yard/feet have been redefined several times over the last hundred years using the metre as the benchmark. So either we do the job properly and go back to the 1800s or just use a sensible metric measurement.
4.54609
Or 3.78541 if you're in the US...
Why do we need to change to a system I have never been taught, rely upon or used professionally? Oh yeah, because old people are nostalgic for thier youth.
statue mile?
That’s a mighty tall statue 😉
I agree with what you say. Metric is, on the whole, better - I just don’t see the need to make out that the imperial system is overly difficult.
I mean why on earth is the imperial foot a size 13 shoe?
Because it was given to us by the Romans and Italians are prone to exaggerate about the size of their body parts - it's the sort of thing which I would expect Silvio Berlusconi to claim.
Seriously, can you imagine an Italian with size 13 feet? And presumably the Romans claimed that was an average size!!
On the good old railway we still measure in feet yards chains and miles, still talk about the 4foot, 6 foot and 10foot, but our possession of safety is 1.25m or 2m (depending on speed).
I'm happy sticking with metric, I puzzled my parents when I told them their grandchildren's weight in kilos.
Filled it in. The words chaos, confusion and expense featured.
This rancid dross is old news and will surely die a death with Johnson's resignation and the coming winter of chaos and devastation.
I really don't understand why the government, or parts of it, are so determined to make the UK poorer and less competitive for reasons of nostalgia, bit of red meat for the few ?
The problem with Imperial, is not that I don't knowwhat inches, yards, feet are , and I can explain them to my kids. It's when you start doing practical calculations tho'. The weights stuff is more abstract tho', and harder to understand what that means in the real world if you haven't used it a lot.
Real world implications - makes trading with British companies even harder
Real world implications – makes trading with British companies even harder
It won't, as the British companies will maintain metric measurements. It'll make it a lot more expensive for the companies, though, if they're also legally obliged to provide measurements in imperial units.
I just don’t see the need to make out that the imperial system is overly difficult.
It is not overly difficult to people who are numerically minded but if you were coming up with a system from scratch would you use one that uses 3, 12, 16, 20 and so on or one that uses 10, 100, 1000?
As we already have the more consistent approach in place and most people under 50 only really know that system then bringing in an alternative old and less consistent method seems ****ing stupid at best doesn't it.
would you use one that uses 3, 12, 16, 20 and so on
Length goes from 333 1/3, 3, 4 ,12, 3, 22,10,8,3, relative to their previous measure
weight goes 1/700, 1/256, 1/16, 1, 14, 28, 112, 2240.
What could be simpler?
Filled in - thanks for heads up!
I work with US companies working in inches/PSI/fahrenheit so actually have a lot of experience of working with the two systems - it is a massive pain in the arse and confuses the hell out of apprentices.
I'd love to test the haunted pencil with some Oil and Gas specifications just to see how well he coped...
I'd be completely buggered if we went back to pounds, shillings and pence though 🤣
Did the survey and slated every aspect of it. There was no "don't be daft, lets stick with metric" option because our tory overlords want to skew the result and introduce something their coffin dodging party members can embrace. The rest of us don't matter.
Far better to formally adopt well established and commonly used Scottish measurements;
Distance; Bawhair, Gnat's Chuff, Pure Miles.
Temperature; Pure freezin' / roastin', Scorchio, Taps Aff, Baltic, Meltin'.
Time; Yonks, Ages
Currency; Bawbees, Score, Wad.
Others are available.
It really does make me sad that some supposedly learned people want to reject one of the finest accomplishments of human culture. Everyone in the world* has agreed on some measurements to make things fairer and easier for everyone. It’s such a beautiful idea.
A bit like having free movement and custom free areas to do business in.... Let's take that away and make it harder.
The UK really is on a strange path.
tobago – sorry to disappoint; there clearly isn’t a God as ree-smug is, apparently, being touted as housing minister.
Workhousing Minister, surely?
That survey is so hilariously obviously biased, it's quite incredible. If a GCSE student had written that, they'd catch a bollocking for writing leading questions.
I really don’t understand why the government, or parts of it, are so determined to make the UK poorer and less competitive for reasons of nostalgia, bit of red meat for the few ?
It's because they really don't care about anyone who has to actually work for a living and earn every penny they need for food & to keep themselves warm. They have absolutely no concept of the real world and are quite safe and cozy in their mink lined bubbles, laughing at the rest of us.
Well I for one, look forward to them getting rid the the 4.2% on my bottle of beer and it being replaced with a fraction instead: 21/500 😉
Filled in, emphasised the pointlessness of imperial units, the costs that would be involved, and the bias of the questions, but avoided a rant at them as that's just likely to get my response rejected - and I want the conclusion from the consultation to say that there are really good reason to bin the idea.
It's just bonkers.
I asked a colleague a while back to measure the space for a shelf she wanted at one of our locations. I wanted it fairly precise so I could cut the wood at base and take it to site and slot it it. She came back with 22.2 inches. So what is that? Is it 22 and 2 tenths? 22 and 2 eights? 22 and 2 twelfths? I asked if she could measure in mm but she said it mm were too complicated. In the end I just took a 1m long board and a saw/tape etc Turned out it was 22 and 2 thirds! She is at least 70...
Everywhere I could in that 'survey' I included the statement that:
"Metric units are the international standard method of measurement for science and trade. If the UK stops using the metric system it will be left behind."
just use a sensible metric measurement
Sorry, "sensible" no longer applies to the UK post 2017.
I think most folks are missing the point of the survey ( I may be wrong )
Surely its really just another " Oh Look a Squirrel " type thing , much along the lines of " Lets make Cyclists have number plates "
Its sole purpose is to distract from the real issues in the world today, which the government should be concentrating on
( imho)
They have absolutely no concept of the real world
Some of them might, but the point is that even if they do they simply don't care. That's the fundamental mistake you're making. It matters not if they know about the real world or not, they don't care about it.
THat has to be one of the worst surveys I have ever completed. It is so clearly designed to give a predetermined answer as to be laughable.
I think most folks are missing the point of the survey ( I may be wrong )
I have a horrible suspicion that it's point is that they can then announce that the response was overwhelmingly in favour of Imperial units.
Not read the survey but wanted to say that I tend to use imperial measurements when considering height and weight. The just seem more understandable (to me). If someone says I am six feet tall and thirteen stone it is a lot easier to envisage than the equivalent metric measures of approxiamtely 183cm and 82kg.
It does seem to be distraction nonsense for this to be a thing at the moment though.
I think what's quite interesting looking at that Thames TV bit above is what we didn't adopt. They seemed to imply Km would be used but we still use miles on the roads.
As a bit of an experiment I was trying to explain some simple conversions to my girls the other day, fluid Oz in round numbers that it's basically 28ml and 20 of those make a pint and 1.75 pints make a liter... They just looked incredulously at me my eldest asked what the point of it was when we already had ml and liters as a perfectly workable system.
And from their perspective it is utterly bonkers they've been taught (and their parents) a logical, understandable metric system and now some duffers from their grandparents generation want to force them to translate everything into ancient gibberish for the sake of nostalgia...
Pretty much everyone of working age and below is calibrated to the metric system, the ensuing ****-ups will ultimately just end up costing Their pension funds. Why can't the boomers just stop pissing about with a perfectly functional country that wasn't doing them any harm?
They'll be outlawing calculators next in favour of slide rules just because...
We really need to dislodge the bastardsnfrom power before this goes too far.
some duffers from their grandparents generation
No, some ambitious politicians who are trying to appeal to a minority which may be in that generation but DO NOT REPRESENT IT.
Why can’t the boomers just stop pissing about
Why can't some people stop gratuitously insulting people based on when they were born?
What really boils my piss, is that there is absolutely nothing to stop you from displaying prices in any units you want, as long as you also display the metric.
If they force traders to go back to imperial it will come at a significant cost. That was one of the arguments against going full metric in the first place.
Personally, I always used some imperial stuff, still do. Miles on bike and in car.
Some other stuff started using more and more metric, walking I use km as it makes absolutely perfect sense when using an OS map. My weight I think of in KG now.
Why can’t some people stop gratuitously insulting people based on when they were born?
I'll stop doing it when that generation stops ruining my country 😘 (TBF my parents are that generation and very anti Brexit/Tory/populism)...
Yes it's populist Tories doing it, but they've found their generational target group in the "marketplace of ideas" and let's be fair I doubt most of the Gammons under 50 are that much more comfortable with imperial so this one is definitely for the oldies...
let’s be fair
You're not being fair at all. You're erroneously discriminating against a whole group of people based on the behaviour of some of its members. You might as well criticise people on the basis of their race.
By all means have a go at Tory voters, they chose to belong to that group.
Besides which, you're wrong, because boomers were at school in the 1960's and were brought up metric.
It's got the exact feel of a surveymonkey done by a 15 year old to confirm something they already think is true for their homework, even though they're wrong.
Did it anyway but **** me.
Yes there was no pretence of impartiality about it at all. Done a couple of other government consultations recently and they were as bad. The one on reforming private parking was a classic, even though it was heavily weighted it still came out against what they were planning. So they ignored it and cried foul when they got taken to court for driving rough shod over their own procedures.
You’re not being fair at all. You’re erroneously discriminating against a whole group of people based on the behaviour of some of its members. You might as well criticise people on the basis of their race.
You're quite right, not all boomers voted for our collective ruin, but they are disproportionately represented in the demographics of those who did. I'm affraid I see it as a generational failing (unfortunately that includes those of you with a more moderate, measured outlook), especially from those that lived through the summer of love etc...
Don't worry my own generation is busy failing right now, those of us in our 40s are busily failing to challenge the status quo, and the populist drive towards Right leaning, nostalgia for a mis-remembered great imperial past that nobody alive ever knew...
Fine I'll stop bad mouthing boomers if it really irks you, but I'm still operating on a "dynamic, proportionate blame" model so they're currently indexed at 68% with Gen X making up most of the rest under my arbitrary utterly biased 'random bloke on the internet that's not worth the effort arguing with' scale...
And the bile spouted on this and the politics threads make me wonder if the death of STW would be a boost to nicer vibes on the world after all.
populist drive towards Right leaning, nostalgia for a mis-remembered great imperial past
I'm completely with you in opposing that. Your last paragraph does give me a hint that you might treat boomers as individuals if you meet us as people, so I'll accept that. As you may guess from my username, I do look like a boomer.
I found question 3a very troubling - If you had a choice, would you want to purchase items i) in imperial units: ii) in imperial units alongside a metric equivalent?
It felt totally loaded and I could imagine Jacob ReesMoggs sitting there across a desk with no computer asking me it directly.
I seem to recall a problem for Nasa few years ago where there was a mix up between metric and imperial units - I gather it cost them a lot of money - https://everydayastronaut.com/mars-climate-orbiter/
If Nasa struggle I dread to think how modern UK consumers are going to find it.
