Pounds and ounces return in victory for metric martyrs

UK Times of London ^

[ameribbean expat]

In 2001 a greengrocer from Sunderland arguably did more than any politician to set Britain on the path towards Brexit when he was convicted for breaching EU rules banning the sale of fruit and vegetables in pounds and ounces.

Now, 20 years on, Boris Johnson is to make good on a pledge to vindicate the cause of the “metric martyr” by announcing the return of imperial weights and measures.

*****

[EEGator]

Base 10 just makes sense.

[DennisR]

Hm. I would rather divide 210 mm by 7 than 8.3 inches by 7.

…Electrical engineer of 32 years.

[EEGator]

My hand is just over 8 inches.
Who has a 4” hand?
Am I confused?...

[Bethaneidh]

I know 2.56, and the Santa Catalina song, that’s all I need. But really, who even knows their height or girth in Metric?

[Bethaneidh]

It’s the width, not the span.

[T.B. Yoits]

Metric (base 10) has certain advantages but works poorly with certain things.

Ounces of liquid measure, for example, halve nicely:
128 oz. = 1 Gallon
64 oz. = 1 half Gallon
32 oz. =1 Quart
16 oz. = 1 Pint
8 oz. = 1 Cup (or half Pint)
4 oz. = 1 half Cup
2 oz. = 1 quarter Cup
1 oz. = 1 Ounce
.5 oz. = 1 Tablespoon

The Founding Fathers of the United States were wise to be the first to adopt the base 10 system with our money but wisely avoided it with other measurements.

[hanamizu]

When measuring a horse, you lay your hands sideways and alternate you way up the front leg from the ground to the withers. Most horses don’t mind be touched like this, but some might object to a tape measure.

[DoughtyOne]

Thank you.

[bunkerhill7]

USA-based Spacex broadcasts Spacecraft launches on the net to the general public in kilometers and kilograms.
Boy, are they stupoid or what?

[who_would_fardels_bear]

Imperial preferred to Inferior for human-scale transactions.

Save the metric system for machines talking to machines or scientists exploring the very small or the very large.

[FMBass]

16 oz = 1 pint which also is approximately 1 pound by weight (actually ~ 1.04 pounds, but close enough for most engneering work).

[EEGator]

Gotcha. I thought those filthy carnies were involved.
Small hands, smell like cabbage…

[EEGator]

Gotcha, thanks.

[Neanderthal]

"traditional English units work just fine because they are designed around quantities that humans actually use in their daily lives."

Yes. And Fahrenheit makes far more sense than Celsius. 0 Fahrenheit is near the low range of normal human experience and 100 is near the high end. These make far more sense than Celsius.

[Ben Hecks]

American engineers recognize the utility of metric units, but don’t need to impose them in the kitchen or carpenter shop where traditional units work just fine.

I tend to agree but when I built a small sailboat, I chose to convert all the plan measurements to metric units which made it easier for me to layout and cut components.

[StormEye]

"USA-based Spacex broadcasts Spacecraft launches on the"
net to the general public in kilometers and kilograms."

I find that quite irritating when I happen to
watch a SpaceX launch. SpaceX is free to use whatever
units of measure they wish, but seeing as they are
in the USA they ought to respect the culture here
and at least show the English units alongside
the metric. There is no reason for not doing it.

[momincombatboots]

It was a nice gimmick to help w the 70s gas pricing… going to liters. Works for ice cream to. Makes people think inflation is not as bad as it really is. When Uber leftists talk about how amazing European free healthcare is, I always ask them to tell me the price of a gallon of gas. They always get it wrong.

[RushIsMyTeddyBear]

They outlawed Emperical when I lived there. Real PITA while shopping.

[heavy metal]

3.5 grams=1/8 ounce...

7 grams=1/4 ounce...

28 grams=1 ounce...

😁...

[null and void]

Tailpipe emissions are measured in grams per mile.

Thank you congress...