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

[WATFORD zero]

No one outside of Boris Johnson's head does think it's a good idea.

It's distraction of the highest order, pandering to a vocal minority who hanker for the good ol' days

I agree that anyone with an iota of common sense would think that it's just so ridiculous it has to be a joke.

However, the thing I find funnier still is that there are still posts on this very thread from the ever dwindling Johnson cabal who are trying to justify it as 'freedom of choice' and claim it's being used as another opportunity to 'Bash Boris led by the Guardian'. I do wonder if they are cringing as they type, or maybe they get the joke but don't realise who the target of the joke is

 

[drew]

And to cap it all off...an American pint is smaller (or is it larger?) than a British pint...so an American gallon (still 8 pints) is smaller than a British gallon...so it's quite hard to compare milk and fuel prices even metric to metric, cos there's British metric and there's US metric, but only on some measures, and only on weekdays...WTAF?!?!?

America is at the vanguard. They, along with giants Liberia and Myanmar, have not adopted the metric system. They doggedly stick to the old ways which might explain why an 18 year old can go and buy an assault rifle on the off chance there is a need to raise a militia!!!

 

[dsr-burnley]

Some very strange comments from a few on this thread imo.

I’m 65 and loved LSD - I mean £sd etc, cwt et al because like Weststander I was good at arithmetic. Having been a primary school teacher and HT for most of my career my view is that it would be a truly ridiculous move to try and reintroduce imperial measures when the metric system is so much EASIER. Just WHY would anyone think it’s a good idea? - total madness - so much so I’m convinced the idea can’t possibly be serious.

Why is it madness? It won't affect primary schools, which were teaching in metric long before the legal blocks were put in place to imperial measures. It won't affect you, because shops will still serve what their customers want.

Take some niche activity that some people like but most don't. Battle re-enactments, for example. I have no idea what people get out of it and would have no interest in doing it - but that doesn't make me want to ban it. If someone wants to go into a shop and see all the prices marked in so much per pound, then let them. If someone is so offended by a shop where all the prices are marked so much per pound, then let them keep away. Other shops will take their custom.

There are all sorts of objections about things that aren't going to happen, such as children being forced to learn imperial measures and shops being forced to use metric. This is not what this law is about. This is, purely and simply, about abolishing the law that restricts use of imperial measures between consenting people.

 

[dsr-burnley]

I agree that anyone with an iota of common sense would think that it's just so ridiculous it has to be a joke.

However, the thing I find funnier still is that there are still posts on this very thread from the ever dwindling Johnson cabal who are trying to justify it as 'freedom of choice' and claim it's being used as another opportunity to 'Bash Boris led by the Guardian'. I do wonder if they are cringing as they type, or maybe they get the joke but don't realise who the target of the joke is

If it's so ridiculous to live without this law, why don't EU countries have an equivalent law? Denmark, for example (at least twenty years ago when I was last there) sold timber in UK imperial lengths. The children's woodwork room in a primary school I visited had yard-length rulers marked in inches, and only in inches. Is Denmark a ridiculous country for not banning it?

 

[dsr-burnley]

[duplicate post]

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

Why is it madness? It won't affect primary schools, which were teaching in metric long before the legal blocks were put in place to imperial measures. It won't affect you, because shops will still serve what their customers want.

Take some niche activity that some people like but most don't. Battle re-enactments, for example. I have no idea what people get out of it and would have no interest in doing it - but that doesn't make me want to ban it. If someone wants to go into a shop and see all the prices marked in so much per pound, then let them. If someone is so offended by a shop where all the prices are marked so much per pound, then let them keep away. Other shops will take their custom.

There are all sorts of objections about things that aren't going to happen, such as children being forced to learn imperial measures and shops being forced to use metric. This is not what this law is about. This is, purely and simply, about abolishing the law that restricts use of imperial measures between consenting people.

It isn’t about taking your liberties away, it’s about pure and simple common sense; standards make like so much easier in many many ways. Do you also complain that you don’t have a choice about which side of the road to drive your car on?

 

[Harry Wilson's tackle]

It isn’t about taking your liberties away, it’s about pure and simple common sense; standards make like so much easier in many many ways. Do you also complain that you don’t have a choice about which side of the road to drive your car on?

That's an analogy I use often when teaching students design and analysis. Why is p<0.05 statistically significant? Why not p<0.1 or <0.001? Well it can be if you define it so, but by convention in a binary decision making test we define a threshold and it is normally P<0.05 (and one should stick with the defined threshold when reporting data, albeit not everyone does....)

Standards. Without them it would be carnage

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

That's an analogy I use often when teaching students design and analysis. Why is p<0.05 statistically significant? Why not p<0.1 or <0.001? Well it can be if you define it so, but by convention in a binary decision making test we define a threshold nd it is normally P<0.05 (and one should stick with the defined threshold when reporting data, albeit not everyone does....)

Standards. Without them it would be carnage

So true about standards.

 

[The Clamp]

Why is it madness? It won't affect primary schools, which were teaching in metric long before the legal blocks were put in place to imperial measures. It won't affect you, because shops will still serve what their customers want.

Take some niche activity that some people like but most don't. Battle re-enactments, for example. I have no idea what people get out of it and would have no interest in doing it - but that doesn't make me want to ban it. If someone wants to go into a shop and see all the prices marked in so much per pound, then let them. If someone is so offended by a shop where all the prices are marked so much per pound, then let them keep away. Other shops will take their custom.

There are all sorts of objections about things that aren't going to happen, such as children being forced to learn imperial measures and shops being forced to use metric. This is not what this law is about. This is, purely and simply, about abolishing the law that restricts use of imperial measures between consenting people.

A law that never existed.

*sigh*

 

[GREASED WEASEL]

America is at the vanguard. They, along with giants Liberia and Myanmar, have not adopted the metric system. They doggedly stick to the old ways which might explain why an 18 year old can go and buy an assault rifle on the off chance there is a need to raise a militia!!!

wow!

that's some leap

someone measuring in feet & inches,being blamed for mass murder

 

[zefarelly]

So true about standards.

They've been dropping for years . . .just look at the state of the nation.

 

[Bakero]

Person's Height, Weight, Speed, Milk, Beer Imperial, all other measurements and weights, Metric for me.

And I never ever got Fahrenheit, freezing is WHAT ? Boiling is WHAT ?

I think most British people do that, don't they? My girlfriend (early 30s) is clueless when it comes to Imperial measures in general but for height/weight/speed etc she uses them.

 

[monty uk]

Does this mean we'll also have imperial spanners and screw threads? Oh, the joys of selecting the right type of spanner, not just the size, and the correct nut to fit a bolt are eagerly anticipated.

 

[zefarelly]

wow!

that's some leap

someone measuring in feet & inches,being blamed for mass murder

Well a COlt 45 is 11mm, and can be purchased by a person with a 3/16 average intelligence, but yes it is a leap, almost a chain length

 

[WATFORD zero]

Well a COlt 45 is 11mm, and can be purchased by a person with a 3/16 average intelligence, but yes it is a leap, almost a chain length

NOT quite as ridiculous as the 'announcement' that started this thread , but nice try

 

[dsr-burnley]

A law that never existed.

*sigh*

If the law never existed, why are people getting so het up about it being repealed?

 

[The Clamp]

If the law never existed, why are people getting so het up about it being repealed?

You don’t really understand things, do you.

 

[drew]

wow!

that's some leap

someone measuring in feet & inches,being blamed for mass murder

The leap is in your head!

 

[Harry Wilson's tackle]

If the law never existed, why are people getting so het up about it being repealed?

Nobody is het up. We are simply raising an eyebrow about the deflectionary announcement of this 'great new freedom'.

 

[GREASED WEASEL]

The leap is in your head!

I didn't post it

you did