The U.K. Left The EU, And Now It's Inching Away From The Metric System Too

NPR ^ | September 17, 2021 | Scott Neuman

[hanamizu]

Got home and I was like a racehorse who just ran 6 1/2 furlongs.

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I always got a kick out ‘furlong per fortnight’. But the origin of furlong is once again based on human activity. I believe it was how far a team of oxen plowing a field could go before they needed a break. French revolutionaries were determined to get rid of human-based measurements in favor of scientifically-based measures. Having it based on multiples of 10 was a good idea, but the resulting units were often unsuited to daily life as lived by human beings.

[Myrddin]

Let's change the speed signs to "furlongs per fortnight". Intuitively obvious to the most casual observer.

[Myrddin]

A few years back I was visiting Yellowstone National Park. My wife was driving. The driver ahead was moving at half the posted speed. We both turned off into a parking area to visit one of the geological areas. The guy comes stomping over and says "This is not the Autobahn" in a thick German accent. I said, "yes, that is true. The posted speed is in miles per hour not kilometers per hour". That explains his irritating behavior of driving nearly half the posted speed.

[Myrddin]

When I last visited Wales for a vacation in the 90s, I noticed similar merchandise on the shelves priced in pounds that matched US dollars at home. The exchange rate was $1.63 USD to 1 UK pound. There is no way I would buy a similar or identical product on my vacation for a 63% price increase.

[Mr Radical]

The length of a cricket pitch always has been and always will be One English Chain (that is 22 Yards or 66 Feet or 100 Links or 4 Rods). It will never be 20.1168 Metres!

[PAR35]

Bring back the shilling.

[OSHA]

They already use miles.:^)

[Fitzy_888]

But, a kilogram weighs the same on earth, the Moon and Mars.

(That has yet to come in handy.)

[Fitzy_888]

A British Thermal Unit (BTU) is the energy it take to increase the temperature of a pint of beer one degree Fahrenheit.

Somehow it all comes back to beer, I can relate to that.

[TennesseeProfessor]

Almost everything in metric?

I still buy my gasoline by gallons, not liters. I have no idea of my weight in kg but know it in lbs. I helped my wife cooking by measuring two cups of water (how many ml?). We bought a gallon (not liter) of milk. I know how tall I am — but not in cm. Our thermostat measures in Farenheight not celcius. I recently needed to use a 7/8” screw for minor repairs.

Other than engineering design documents, which are often international and thus often use SI units of measure, why do you say that “almost everything” is in metric in the US?

[cpt_dave]

No, the metric system is not more accurate than the imperial system, nor is it less accurate. Accuracy refers to the ability to measure something to the measurement standard.

[Clutch Martin]

Isn’t the metric sytem French?

Calculated at 1 billion centimeters from the North pole to Paris. Or something of that nature.

[Menes]

America has sent a man to the moon, yes, but Liberia and Myanmar...not so sure.

No offense meant to you or anybody :-)

[Menes]

Yes, it was introduced by revolutionary France in 1799. But by then, the worst excesses of the Revolution had already been over.

Actually one meter is one ten-millionth of the distance between the North Pole and the equator, using the meridian which runs through Paris.

Just for the record :-)

[Winniesboy]

No, the road distance system used in the UK has never gone metric.

[Clutch Martin]

“Actually one meter is one ten-millionth of the distance between the North Pole and the equator, using the meridian which runs through Paris.

Just for the record :-)”

Ahhhh, thank you. I was unsuccessfully riffing from memory. It’s been quite a while since I came across that factoid. And I was overtaken by events and forgot to check. Appreciate it.