British Imperial (aka US Customary) System

[fbastos]

Folks,

While we wait for the patch, what about a good healthy discussion? Point being: don't you think it's backwards that while 95% of the World now uses the metric system, the US stands alone using pounds, inches, gallons, etc...?

Flame away!! [:D]

F.

[esteban]

We'd lose too many good cliches!!

Can you imagine somebody indicating that they need to put out an extra effort by saying, "We need to go the whole 9 meters on this!!"

Or "give them a centimeter, and they will take a kilometer?"

Or "Barry Bonds hit a game winning 158.7 meter home run in the 8th?"

Do you think that Texans want to wear "37.85 liter" hats?

Football should be played on a 92 meter field?


This is just another artsy-fartsy, Eurofruity attempt to sap our national character!!! [:-][:D][:'(]

(Besides, my generation was taught the metric system in the 70s, when we were supposedly going to convert, and the change was going to give the economy a big boost. Then it was found that changing the signage and federal regs alone would cost about 3% of GDP--to hell with that!!)

[fbastos]

One gallon is 4.54 liters. If Americans knew how many liters it takes to fill up a Hummer, GM would go bankrupt!!

So you see, it's all a conspiracy between GM and the oil industry (plus the Saudi family, of course). [:'(]

F.

[Belce]

What does it cost now to maintain the Imperial system of measurement?

Everything you sell aboard has to be labeled in metric since that is a requirement, unit of measure in another country is metric so you have to have US labels and labels for everywhere else. Same with product documentation and all. Instead of an export stream and a domestic stream for product, you have a stream for product.

Foreign manafacturers do not make Imperial measurement items, that is why you buy a socket wrench set with metric and Imperial size bits, your Honda is metric. How much less is that socket set with half the sockets?

[;)]

[DrewMatrix]

I hate to tell you, but the US system and the Imperial system are different. An Imperial pint is bigger than a US pint.

Me, I think we should go back to versts and leagues as units of measure.

[fbastos]

An Imperial pint is bigger than a US pint

Shocker!!!

So the US system is not only different than the rest of the world, but also different from the one used by the creators of the system themselves!!

Oh my God.. the problem is worse than I though!!



F.

[dacharls]

Du you even know how the Imperial Yard was based on before it went standard length?

It was the arm length of the King, from nosetip to thumbtip. Thats just a stupid system and why have a base 3 system when we use base 10 in every other respect (ok not time where its base 60 and base 10).

And just what is a yard now a days what does it represent?

Just my 2 centimeters (cent as in 1/100 and meter as in how long the light travels in 1/299792458 sekund).

[Bodhi]

ORIGINAL: dacharls

Du you even know how the Imperial Yard was based on before it went standard length?

It was the arm length of the King, from nosetip to thumbtip. Thats just a stupid system and why have a base 3 system when we use base 10 in every other respect (ok not time where its base 60 and base 10).

And just what is a yard now a days what does it represent?

Just my 2 centimeters (cent as in 1/100 and meter as in how long the light travels in 1/299792458 sekund).

Distance from the king's nose to thumbtip may not be the best standard measure, but it's a bit easier to determine than the speed of light - providing the country still has a king.[;)]

[dacharls]

Yea and the inflation would rise when king is shorter

[Captain Cruft]

The thing is, IMHO, Imperial measures are more "natural" than arbitrary metric ones. They had years and years to evolve through practical usage. The only saving grace of the metric system is that a metre is virtually equal to a yard ...

BTW we still use both here in the UK, which is the worst of both worlds, lol.

[tsimmonds]

a metre is virtually equal to a yard

Yeah, it's not like three extra inches here or there makes any difference.[;)]

[Chris21wen]

ORIGINAL: dacharls

Du you even know how the Imperial Yard was based on before it went standard length?

It was the arm length of the King, from nosetip to thumbtip. Thats just a stupid system and why have a base 3 system when we use base 10 in every other respect (ok not time where its base 60 and base 10).

And just what is a yard now a days what does it represent?

Just my 2 centimeters (cent as in 1/100 and meter as in how long the light travels in 1/299792458 sekund).

Not true the story was made up during king Henry 1 reaign. The origin of the yard existed before Henry I was born. The yard was in the keeping of the guilds that dealt in cloth. If you want the full story check this site.

http://www.sizes.com/units/yard.htm#Britain

[;)]I can't see what the problem is. Take the mile for instance it much more sensible to talk about 1760yds than 1.609 metres don't you think.

[Montbrun]

Some more useless trivia:

Land Surveyors and Civil Engineers in the US measure lengths in feet, tenths of feet, and hundredths of feet. Inches are a totally foreign concept to us (LOL). If you look at your property deed, or map, you will notice that all of the measurements are in decimals.

For example:

1" = 0.08333'
2" = 0.16667'
3" = 0.25'
4" = 0.33333'
5" = 0.41667'
6" = 0.50'
7" = 0.58333'
8" = 0.66667'
9" = 0.75'
10" = 0.83333'
11" = 0.91667'
12" = 1.00'

You might see a distance along a boundary line of "100.67'" This would be 100'-8"

Brad

[Theng]

ORIGINAL: Brad Hunter

Some more useless trivia:

Land Surveyors and Civil Engineers in the US measure lengths in feet, tenths of feet, and hundredths of feet. Inches are a totally foreign concept to us (LOL). If you look at your property deed, or map, you will notice that all of the measurements are in decimals.

You might see a distance along a boundary line of "100.67'" This would be 100'-8"

Brad

So the surveyors have introduced the metric/decimal system through the back door. I think the issue of what is the "base" is less relevant (meter/yard) than a base of 10.

The metric system is inherently logical and intergrated. 1 meter is approx. 40th million part of the circumferance of the globe. So you have a measure of length. If you want to have a measure of volume you take 10cm (1/10 meter) cubed and you get 1 liter. The weight of 1 liter of water is 1 kilogram. The amount of energy it takes to increase the temperature of water by 1 celsius is a round number (I think 1 kilojoule) The temperature where water is freezing is 0 celsius, and it boils at 100 celsius and the system is linear. As far as I remember the amount of energy it takes to increase the temperature of water by 1 fahrenheit is different when you are at 10 fahrenheit than at 1000 fahrenheit. The metric system is just a much more elegant system. The US system has folklore, interia and polemics on its side. And BTW just because you change the official system it does make the cliches obsolete. Soccer is thriving quite well in a metric system even though it was devised in the imperial system - and the cliches are plentiful.

BTW Did you know how Fahrenheit decided on his 0 point? He decided that 0 fahrenheit is the lowest possible temperature possible in the universe. I am sure people in the northern US and Canada are relieved to hear that

And BTW a US gallon is 3.6 liters

[steveh11Matrix]

Yes, but even the ardent 'Metricists' don't use consistent SI units: You talk in terms of Km/hour not m/s, for example. Not to mention the use of the Celsius scale when you should be talking Kelvins...

So, in this spirit: Speed of light is (approximately) 3,605,191,159,912.91 furlongs per fortnight!

Default bombload of a Mosquito FBVI (Love the Roman Numerals!) is One Hundred and Forty-Two Stones and Twelve Pounds.

I'm old enough to remember when LSD meant Pounds, Shillings and Pence not lysergic acid diethylamide, and personally regret the change to decimal currency. You can't divide 100 into integer units of 3, 6 or 8, but you certainly could in the old style...

OK, OK, I'm feeling better now. Rant off. [:D][:D][:D]

Steve.

[dr. smith]

ORIGINAL: irrelevant

a metre is virtually equal to a yard

Yeah, it's not like three extra inches here or there makes any difference.[;)]

Only to a woman ![:D]

[fbastos]

Yeah, it's not like three extra inches here or there makes any difference.

Only to a woman !

Ops... don't know about other people, but I'm not a woman and if someone cuts some particular extra inches of mine, I would be VERY upset!!!!!



F.

[strawbuk]

ORIGINAL: Captain Cruft
The only saving grace of the metric system is that a metre is virtually equal to a yard ...

.

A meter measures 3 foot 3"
It is longer than a yard you see

That's the kind of assumption that puts ships on rocks and shells on your own trenches [:D]

[strawbuk]

ORIGINAL: steveh11Matrix

So, in this spirit: Speed of light is (approximately) 3,605,191,159,912.91 furlongs per fortnight!

Is Speed of Light the horse that Alderneaty beat in his last race?

(UK racegoers joke only)

[strawbuk]

ORIGINAL: steveh11Matrix

Default bombload of a Mosquito FBVI (Love the Roman Numerals!) is One Hundred and Forty-Two Stones and Twelve Pounds.

S

Effect of most WITP Japanese bombloads = same as dropping a Stone