[Misc] Should we scrap imperial units and go fully metric?

[A1X]

IMHO, metric for weights makes 100% sense

Would never give up on pints, but I do detest the American “cups”

 

[BN9 BHA]

Pipe sizes are metric but thread sizes are in inches, not sure this will ever change in plumbing fittings

 

[Morvangull]

Society on a whole will presumably be split on the use of imperial or metric based on their schooling. I believe after decimilisation, schools switched to teaching metric measurements. Therefore oldies like me understand imperial much better whereas youngster whose education started in the1970's will be clued up on metric.

 

[Giraffe]

What’s the point? Or should that be pint?

 

[alanfp]

I remember a certain person proposing the day be divided into 100 centidays instead of 24 hours. Each centiday would be 14 minutes 24 seconds. A deciday would be 2 hours 24 minutes. 6:00 a.m. would be 25:00. 12:00 noon would be 50:00. 6:00 p.m. would be 75:00 & 12:00 midnight would be 100:00.

Yep - I'd be all for that so that when we're 75% through the day the time is 75:00 whereas currently it's 6 o'clock in a 24 hr day!

 

[Albion my Albion]

Yep - I'd be all for that so that when we're 75% through the day the time is 75:00 whereas currently it's 6 o'clock in a 24 hr day!

The time of your post is 01:25 GMT. In the US Central time zone it was 79:17 Of course time zones would have to be divided up in 10 or 100 units, not 24 units.

Imagine the world time zones being divided up into 100 units.

 

[GT49er]

Society on a whole will presumably be split on the use of imperial or metric based on their schooling. I believe after decimilisation, schools switched to teaching metric measurements. Therefore oldies like me understand imperial much better whereas youngster whose education started in the1970's will be clued up on metric.

Not so much clued up on metric, but much more clueless on arithmetic!

What’s the point? Or should that be pint?

That if it's not all based on multiples of ten. they haven't a clue. I know we (and especially they!) all have computers of one sort or another, but if they're devoid of mathematical skills, that's something else the human race has lost.
Like IMHO and L.O.L replacing other literary skills that are soon to be lost. WTF - says it all!

 

[alanfp]

The time of your post is 01:25 GMT. In the US Central time zone it was 79:17

Don't get me started on time zones around the world - oops too late! Completely unnecessary these days. We could have the same time all around the world. That would be so much simpler.
And before you say it's impossible, it really isn't! OK, so in some countries, workers would go to work at 20:00 hrs , have their lunch in the sunshine at 1:00 the next day and go home at 4:00 the next day. Most of us might find that a bit odd, but my ex would regularly go to work one day and get home early the next day, because she worked nights. Thousands/millions of workers in the UK do that.
12:00 doesn't have to be the time when the sun is at its highest - it's different between Lands End and Lowestoft, but it doesn't matter. And during the summer, for reasons which are no longer relevant, we shift it by another hour anyway.

 

[Albion my Albion]

Most of us might find that a bit odd, but my ex would regularly go to work one day and get home early the next day, because she worked nights. Thousands/millions of workers in the UK do that.

I agree, after the initial adjustment period people can get acclimated to almost anything.

Let's say midnight was set for current midnight in the UK. Then what is currently 6:00 p.m. in the US Central time zone would now be 12:00 a.m. So about the time I would normally eat my evening meal would now be 12:00 a.m./24:00. I would go to bed at 5:00. Wake up at 13:00 and eat my lunch at 18:00.

Of course Trump would insist that world midnight be set for what is currently midnight in the US Eastern time zone (New York/Washington DC/most of Florida) and the UK would have their normal midnight at 5:00. Lunch at 17:00 and go to bed at 4:00. Then wake up at approximately 12:00.

 

[Shropshire Seagull]

Actually I think we should do the opposite: drop all the metric stuff and do everything in imperial. Petrolheads might have a problem adapting though. When asked how big the car engine is rather than saying "Three litres", they'll have to say "Five and a quarter pints".

When I worked at Rolls Royce a good while back there was an afterwork aeronautical society meet where two old boys who had worked on Merlins moons ago came in to give a talk. They spoke of bore and stroke in inches yet displacement in cubic centimetres (cc).

Someone asked if that made the sums harder....

Old boy replied, we do spanners and leave the sums to the office chaps.

 

[Shropshire Seagull]

One could argue that the imperial units, with their origin being ancient Rome, were probably also forced on you...

Their numbers were very strange. X L V I M C etc

How many men did a Centurion command?

How big was a Legion?

No idea on their coin currency.

 

[Shropshire Seagull]

IMHO, metric for weights makes 100% sense

Would never give up on pints, but I do detest the American “cups”

But that's the fundamental basis of metric. I litre of water weighs exactly one kilogram.

I prefer the "pint of water weighs a pound and a quarter" far more poetic ....

 

[Shropshire Seagull]

My favourite imperial trivia question:

How long is a chain?

Cricketers may know this.

 

[Kalimantan Gull]

My favourite imperial trivia question:

How long is a chain?

Cricketers may know this.

So I'm guessing 22 yards

 

[Kalimantan Gull]

 

[Bold Seagull]

Pipe sizes are metric but thread sizes are in inches, not sure this will ever change in plumbing fittings

View attachment 198329

Only plumbers and plumbing could end up using both at the same time!

Although I work with surveyors who measure and value residential in sq m but value commercial property in sq ft.

 

[Bold Seagull]

I don’t do metric measurements. We were using feet and inches a long time before the Yanks were.
when I come across metres and litres I have to do a mental arithmetic exercise to get an approximate imperial measurement, then I can visualise it . Let’s return to British imperial measurements and stuff the Continent!

So only retired people will know what they’re doing!

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

Metric is miles better.

 

[Robdinho]

Pipe sizes are metric but thread sizes are in inches, not sure this will ever change in plumbing fittings

View attachment 198329

A pendant writes: that's technically tube, not pipe.

Pipe actually uses one of the most ridiculous systems of all. Metric and imperial sizes are both aligned so they they are interchangeable, but neither are the dimension they are described as.

So a 1" pipe is identical to a 25mm pipe, but is actually 33.4mm (1.3") diameter, for example.

 

[Bakero]

I would imagine few people younger than 60 do this though? i.e. 25% of the population.

I'm a long way short of 60 and still use a combination of imperial and metric.

Probably more towards the latter but still use imperial in certain situations. This sums it up quite well: