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Britain Delivers a Welcome Blow to the Metric System
National Review ^ | September 17, 2021 | Dominic Pino

Posted on 09/17/2021 10:04:59 AM PDT by billorites

The British government has announced that U.K. businesses will once again be allowed to sell their products in traditional, British units of measurement, like pounds and ounces, instead of the metric system.

This move is a win for freedom-loving people everywhere, and the restoration of customary units should be a cause for jubilation in the streets.

The metric system has its origins in the French Revolution, as a way to stick it to the Ancien Régime. It didn’t go international until 1875, when a group of diplomats got together in Paris (which, historically, is a pretty good indicator that a bad decision is on the way) and signed the Treaty of the Meter. That treaty established the BIPM, an intergovernmental organization with a French name, to oversee a new, worldwide measurement system.

Just like that, with the strokes of a few pens, centuries of history began to be erased. The French Revolution may have been over, but the mindset of the revolutionaries lived on. The French Revolution was a time when men were, in the words of Edmund Burke, “pull[ing] down more in half an hour, than prudence, deliberation, and foresight can build up in an hundred years.” The top-down imposition of the metric system did just that by erasing customary units.

By “customary units,” I don’t just mean the U.S. customary system, but any unit of measure derived through custom. If you read about the origins of customary units, you’ll find that many of them are based on specific occupations, like brewing, farming, and surveying. They were invented by people doing their jobs who needed a way to measure things. They developed units of measure that were useful to them and persuaded others to adopt them for ease of commerce. Customary units eventually became standardized through a bottom-up process.

(Excerpt) Read more at nationalreview.com ...


TOPICS: News/Current Events; United Kingdom
KEYWORDS: bloggers; nationalrepuke
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To: asinclair
For example, when measuring the width of a door opening in a flat, you would hear the person with the tape say “OK, that's 31 inches plus three bitty marks.”

I've used that system all of my life and it has worked great for me even when I worked in graphic arts years ago before computers, where everything had to be measured precisely.

81 posted on 09/17/2021 12:05:45 PM PDT by Inyo-Mono
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To: GOP_Party_Animal
Did you know Skosh is a Japanese measurement?

Yes - I lived in Japan for a time and was delighted to learn that the word "sukoshi" means a little bit. It wasn't a fair exchange - we got that from them and they got all our English cuss words from us.

82 posted on 09/17/2021 12:06:33 PM PDT by Billthedrill
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To: Paladin2

So if you’re engine is 6.6 liters it translates to 1.74 Gal.


83 posted on 09/17/2021 12:15:52 PM PDT by AFreeBird
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To: billorites

Does this mean I can get rid of my metric hammer, pliers and adjustable wrench?


84 posted on 09/17/2021 12:17:10 PM PDT by usconservative (When The Ballot Box No Longer Counts, The Ammunition Box Does. (What's In Your Ammo Box?))
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To: billorites
Britain Delivers a Welcome Blow to the Metric System

In the entire world only three countries do not use metric - Liberia, Myanmar, and the U.S. If Great Britain dropped kilos and grams then I imagine metric can still survive.

85 posted on 09/17/2021 12:22:45 PM PDT by DoodleDawg
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To: billorites

In a global trade world the metric system is a necessity for manufacturing and very useful for trade. As a programmer in the business world I can tell you that unit of measure conversions can be a nightmare.

As far as measurements in the grocery store for commodities it doesn’t matter as long as the metric measurements are always listed.


86 posted on 09/17/2021 12:31:43 PM PDT by WMarshal ("Those who would give up essential liberty, to purchase a little temporary safety, deserve neither.")
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To: NurdlyPeon

The Brits use “stone” as a measure of weight.
Equal to 14 pounds. I weigh 14 stones, = 196lbs.
Ten stones would be 140lbs.


87 posted on 09/17/2021 1:10:20 PM PDT by BatGuano (Ya don't think that I would go into battle with change in my pocket, do ya?)
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To: Billthedrill

Just pronounce “Fukuoka,” the right way.


88 posted on 09/17/2021 1:16:45 PM PDT by BatGuano (Ya don't think that I would go into battle with change in my pocket, do ya?)
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To: BatGuano

My favorite is still the ‘slug’. The slug is a unit of mass associated with Imperial units. It is a mass that accelerates by 1 ft/s2 when a force of one pound-force (lb F) is exerted on it. A slug has a mass of about 14.5939 kg or 32.17405 pounds.


89 posted on 09/17/2021 3:52:26 PM PDT by NurdlyPeon (It is the nature of liberals to pervert whatever they touch.)
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To: AFreeBird

460 in³ = 1.991342 gal


90 posted on 09/17/2021 4:19:18 PM PDT by Paladin2 (Critical Marx Theory is The SOLUTION....)
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To: nagant

Fluid ounces are not identical between the Yanks and the Brits.

One is based on wine and the other on water....


91 posted on 09/17/2021 4:21:57 PM PDT by Paladin2 (Critical Marx Theory is The SOLUTION....)
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To: OA5599

I heard of mils used to measure plastic films.


92 posted on 09/17/2021 4:22:35 PM PDT by brianr10
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To: NonValueAdded

Some things are never going to be relative.....


93 posted on 09/17/2021 4:24:39 PM PDT by Paladin2 (Critical Marx Theory is The SOLUTION....)
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To: billorites
"I love the Centigrade scale for temperature. Water freezes at 0, boils at 100. I get that."

You blew it already. 'Centigrade' is ancient history. It's now 'Celsius'. Besides that, -40 is the same in both systems, and that's C-C-C-Cold by any measure.

94 posted on 09/17/2021 4:56:17 PM PDT by norwaypinesavage (Capitalism is what happens when you leave people alone.)
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To: Gil4

Thanks. I wasn’t aware.


95 posted on 09/17/2021 6:10:25 PM PDT by nagant
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To: Paladin2

Wow. That’s screwy.


96 posted on 09/17/2021 6:11:26 PM PDT by nagant
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