[News] Johnson to bring back Imperial units to honour the queen

[GT49er]

What I would like to know is how did we end up with 16 ounces in a pound but 14 pounds in a stone?
There are 10 chains in a furlong but 8 furlongs in a mile. How come there are 22 yards in a chain? 12 inches in a foot but 3 feet in a yard.
Where did all this malarkey come from? I'm sure there is some logic to it, maybe.

Absolutely - and it's time they sorted out the measurement of time too. 60 minutes in an hour, 24 hours in a day, 7 days in a week, 30 days (give or take) in a month ........... what kind of malarkey is that? Time it was decently decimalised for sure.

Come on Brussels - sortez votre doigt!

 

[WATFORD zero]

I agree, imperial units have never left us. We may buy fuel in litres but we still judge our consumption in MPG, as many have said, beer and milk are still sold in pints. The majority of the country have been bought up and taught the metric system, so that will never change. I do wonder though with the current educating standards how would the current generation cope with pounds, shillings and pence, yards, feet and inches, lbs ounces and hundredweight without a calculator.

I would think that if they had any sense, they would have given up and introduced a decimal system by now. Far simpler

 

[Robinjakarta]

Just goes to show they’re a two bob government.

Two bob? They ain't worth a tanner!

 

[dadams2k11]

Hoorah, another Bash Boris Brexit thread.

Led by a Guardian slant, what more could you ask for?

Boris to be Honest, Trustworthy and put the country first, instead of his own ego?

 

[Thunder Bolt]

What I would like to know is how did we end up with 16 ounces in a pound but 14 pounds in a stone?
There are 10 chains in a furlong but 8 furlongs in a mile. How come there are 22 yards in a chain? 12 inches in a foot but 3 feet in a yard.
Where did all this malarkey come from? I'm sure there is some logic to it, maybe.

A yard was the tip of your nose to your fingertips, an inch was the tip of your thumb to the knuckle, which was how farmers measured lengths.

 

[KZNSeagull]

Four farthings to a penny, 12 pennies to the shilling, 20 shillings to the pound

I think you are missing the point somewhat. It's our Sovereign RIGHT to come up with any old load of soppy bollocks and then insist it's THE BRITISH WAY

or vote for any old soppy bollocks and then insist he's THE BRITISH PM

I think you may be wasting your time looking for any semblance of logic

This seems logical:

"In the 16th century the rod (5.5 yards, or 16.5 feet) was defined (once again as a learning device and not as a standard) as the length of the left feet of 16 men lined up heel to toe as they emerged from church"

 

[WATFORD zero]

Just thought it would be nice to learn something on NSC for a change instead of wading through the same thread played over again, even if it is on a different subject but never mind I'll just google it.

16 Ounces in a pound and 14 pounds in a stone comes from the International Wool trade in the middle ages

 

[birthofanorange]

I'm all for it - can't beat a nice pair of thruppenny bits.

 

[GT49er]

I would think that if they had any sense, they would have given up and introduced a decimal system by now. Far simpler

I wonder how some of them would cope with a decimal system without a calculator.

 

[monty uk]

Wil bucketload be included as a standard measure?

As used for Johnson's lies.

 

[KZNSeagull]

A yard was the tip of your nose to your fingertips, an inch was the tip of your thumb to the knuckle, which was how farmers measured lengths.

I've just read that the inch was the length of 3 barleycorns in the 14th century!

 

[WATFORD zero]

I wonder how some of them would cope with a decimal system without a calculator.

Ironically, a lot better than they would with the imperial system that is Johnson's latest dead cat

 

[Jack Straw]

I've always struggled since 1971 when I see a lady with a large bust, thinking "Cor - look at the nought point nought one p's on that!"

 

[Harry Wilson's tackle]

What I would like to know is how did we end up with 16 ounces in a pound but 14 pounds in a stone?
There are 10 chains in a furlong but 8 furlongs in a mile. How come there are 22 yards in a chain? 12 inches in a foot but 3 feet in a yard.
Where did all this malarkey come from? I'm sure there is some logic to it, maybe.

A horse that lives for a year is a yearling.

So a horse that lives for a week, is that a weakling?

 

[Cheshire Cat]

When I was at school, they still had some completely indecipherable maths and physics text book with imperial units and currencies. Nobody understood any of them.

Try adding pounds, shillings and pence with a calculator - nightmare.

 

[GT49er]

I've just read that the inch was the length of 3 barleycorns in the 14th century!

Of course. Three barleycorns = half a thumb. Obviously! Are you a bit dense, or what?

 

[GT49er]

Ironically, a lot better than they would with the imperial system that is Johnson's latest dead cat

Johnson's latest dead cat? Nah, they've been around for years, long before Johnson.

 

[Cheshire Cat]

Apparently a "twip" is 1/17280 of a foot and 0.0000176389 of a metre. Easy.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twip

 

[WATFORD zero]

I've just read that the inch was the length of 3 barleycorns in the 14th century!

Funnily enough, the stone which I mentioned earlier as the basis of International trade of wool in the middle ages was completely different weights in different countries. So the kilo was invented and adopted by most European countries to ease cross border trade.

 

[Blue Valkyrie]

He also wants chemical castration of rapists. Ouch.

Interesting.

Has he been in Parliament much recently ?