EU and imperial measures

[Nemesis]

Em - me.

I still use it. Never really got to grips with new money stuff.

The demise of the halfcrown was a sad day.

 

[Becka]

As someone who went to primary school in the 80's I was taught exclusively in the metric system at school so I'm very comfortable with that.. but, as my parents and grandparents were all more conversant in imperial I also picked up, feet and inches, stones, pounds and ounces etc.. nowadays I tend to default to which ever is the easiest round number or the most understood by whoever i'm expressing it to.. thus, if i'm measuring a wall say and it comes out in a round number of inches I'll use that, if its a easier number in cm, I'll use that. I tend to cook in metric for weight, but teaspoons etc for small amounts (but microlitres for very small amounts, as I scientist I can look at a drop in a tube and say, looks to be about 5 ul) but i'm happy all in imperial weights tho i find it less easy to do 'by eye'. My height is in feet and inches cos most people understand and can visualise that, I cycle in miles (unless is a short distance when sometime km is a rounder number) and tell my weight in stones as the kilograms sounds far too much! Basically I use whichever of the 2 is easiest at the time.

 

[Lime]

That's where feet and inches succeed.
A foot and an inch are readily understood by the average person not well versed in maths nor equiped with a rule.

Why is an inch and foot any easier to understand / visulise than 1mm, 10mm, 100mm and 1m? A foot in length is nothing like the average adults actual foot length (about 9.4 inches or 240 mm) and an inch just means 25.4mm to me.

Ask the average person in the street to demonstrate the mm, cm and metre between their hands and the result is likely to be scary!
However those conversant with feet and inches will be able to demonstrate either within 10%.

Take a look at the conversion from Pounds, Shillings and Pence to the current currency system. At the time there were a lot of people who complained about the change over (so I am told - I was two at the time) but who now thinks it was good easy system to use?

As you say, you were 2 at the time so have no experience of it.
I had no difficulty dealing with pounds shillings and pence.
The reality of changeover was an increase in prices particularly for small items...that is what most of the complaints were about.

 

[Penners]

Never really got to grips with new money stuff.

Oh come on! I suppose you'd welcome the return of the groat, the rose noble, the helm, the half angel....?

If it's old, it's gotta be better, eh?

 

[Lime]

Or

If it's old it's got to be worse, eh?

 

[Nemesis]

Penners, dahling, in your case (although mature is possibly a more apt word) old is surely better than new fangled?

 

[MdB]

..the groat, the rose noble, the helm, the half angel....?

The Groat I had heard of but the Rose Noble, the Helm and the Half Angel where all new to me. You learn something new every day.

 

[Flyfisher]

I'm becoming surprised that this forum actually exists given the requirement for members to use and utilise all manner of new fangled thingummies, most of which only exist and coexist because of internationally agreed standards :roll:

 

[Penners]

If it's old it's got to be worse, eh?

If I was against old as a concept, I don't think I'd be on this forum, do you? And - given my advanced years - it would be a somewhat self-defeating attitude.

Old can be wonderful - buildings, people, wines, Christmas puddings, furniture... it's a long list.

But there are also old things that are best consigned to history - dentistry, disease, socks, unreliable cars, unwieldy units of measurement and currency....

 

[Penners]

Penners, dahling, in your case (although mature is possibly a more apt word) old is surely better than new fangled?

I've always wondered what it must be like to be fangled.

 

[Nemesis]

Pity then you are so far away...

 

[MdB]

But there are also old things that are best consigned to history - dentistry, disease, socks, unreliable cars, unwieldy units of measurement and currency....

Socks!?! what have you got against socks? (I think I'm going to regret asking that)

 

[biffvernon]

Why is an inch and foot any easier to understand / visulise than 1mm, 10mm, 100mm and 1m? A foot in length is nothing like the average adults actual foot length (about 9.4 inches or 240 mm) and an inch just means 25.4mm to me.

Speak for yourself, titch. My foot is 305mm long. That's a foot in old money.

 

[MdB]

Speak for yourself, titch. My foot is 305mm long. That's a foot in old money.

Congratulations, you belong to 0.4% of the UK adult male population with feet that are a foot or more long.
(ref - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foot_%28unit_of_length%29#Historical_origin)

 

[Penners]

what have you got against socks?

If you read my post again, you'll find that I said old socks.

Unpleasant.

 

[NT]

I've yet to read a single valid point in this thread that supports getting rid of imperial measurements. Plenty of illogical argument, but not even one fact and logic based point that gives a reason to get rid of imperial.

But it sure is strange what some people think are reasoned arguments for the above.

I guess its inevitably going to be this way in such a discussion, for one simple reason: there isnt any properly reasoned basis for getting rid of either of our 2 main measurement systems.


NT

 

[ljn]

In Pisa they went metric a long time ago. This is a marble plack stating metric conversions placed in the market place.
So maybe if England finaally did go metric, we'd even get a nice new plack in Tescos.

 

[Penners]

I've yet to read a single valid point in this thread that supports getting rid of imperial measurements. Plenty of illogical argument, but not even one fact and logic based point that gives a reason to get rid of imperial.

If the metric system had never been introduced into this country, then I might agree with you.

But it has, and so long as we continue to run the two systems side-by-side we increase the risk of confusion and error (as witness spacecraft crashing into Mars).

So, that implies getting rid of one of the two systems. And as the metric system is used in the vast majority of the countries that we trade with, it makes overwhelming sense to ditch the imperial.

You may or may not agree with that - but I don't think you can call it illogical.

 

[Penners]

In Pisa they went metric a long time ago.

That's hardly a reassuring argument in favour of the metric system!

 

[Nemesis]

If the metric system had never been introduced into this country, then I might agree with you.

But it has,

Bluddy hell - when did that happen then?