Are you metric or not? Why?

[Johanna]

When I was a kid in the '70s the teachers said, "Learn this metric well, you will need it because everything will convert." The teachers couldn't imagine thinking in metric any more than our parents, who still buy gas and milk by the gallon, and butter by the pound. There are two pints to a quart and four quarts in a gallon. Any questions? You, in the back with the 16 oz. soda standing by the 8-9 oz. leather hide? Do you honestly think of miles per gallon on kilometers by liter? In the US, we buy pop (soda. cola, soft drinks, sugar with fizz) by the 2 liter bottle, but milk and gas are sold by the gallon. Chips are sold by volume, not weight, and how they calculate air pockets in orange Cheetos I'll never know. I have no real idea of what a cubic foot of natural gas (how we heat the house) but I assume I could put it in a gas can? I have no idea beyond 10C is about 50F and 100C is boiling either, as I suspect is true of many Americans. I had a niece here the other day that asked what time it was, and I pointed to the clock that had just finished chiming. "Oh," she confided, "I only know digital time." This kid could not read a standard wall clock, and I'm glad I didn't point her to any roman numerals to confuse things even more? As you may have guessed, I'm coaching a fifth grader through math this year, and it's got me thinking. When she asks why gold is measured differently than lead, and why a quarter pound of butter is a half a cup and, my favorite, "Mom, why don't we use metric stuff all the time like the other countries?" Because, after all, based on 10, the math is easier. Any computer geek will tell you that a gig of ram = 1024 MB, which somehow makes sense in a world that still types on "qwerty" keyboards. the keys were designed to slow an English typist down so the keys wouldn't jam. Meanwhile, the third grader is learning that "through" "tough" and ""thorough" are all pronounced differently, and I don't know why that is, either, except he needs to learn it, just like we faithfully teach our kids metrics. People who deal drugs are very quick with gram conversions, so I suspect we, as a society, need to have a sense of urgency if anything will ever change. Bananas are sold by the pound. I'm going bananas repeating, "I don't know why, but you'd better learn it or you won't be able to do modern algebra!" Does anyone know what time it is? Depends where you are. Seems like time is the only standard the world adheres and agrees on, but that wasn't always the case (Julian or Gregorian?)

So, what's it like where you live? Are you metric or not? I live in Ohio, USA, and I'm not very metric. My husband has two sets of tools to work on the cars. He works in a mixture of metric and English at the factory, too. .0000 tolerances What is it like where you live? Do you have any absurd legacies like we do here in the US?

Johanna

[Art]

Back in the '60s (you know, when kids actually worked on cars) I had a set of SAE for the American Iron, a set of Metric for the VWs, and a set of Whitworth for the Healy. At least EVERYTHING on one type of car was the same. Well at least now you won't find any Whitworth in anything current. I know they have British Standard too, but it was usually the same as SAE.

It will be hard to convert the US to metric until someone gets dictatorial about the whole thing. So, not in our lifetime.

Remember in the '70s when gas just went over $1.00? They didn't have a lot of totally "electronic" gas pumps in those days, so they went to cents/liter. They quickly found out that the guys who could charge over $1/gallon were getting all the business. Didn't take long for a fix to the old pumps to charge $1 and up per gallon. They read .059 but they were metering $1.059.

Art

When I was a kid in the '70s the teachers said, "Learn this metric well, you will need it because everything will convert." The teachers couldn't imagine thinking in metric any more than our parents, who still buy gas and milk by the gallon, and butter by the pound. There are two pints to a quart and four quarts in a gallon. Any questions? You, in the back with the 16 oz. soda standing by the 8-9 oz. leather hide? Do you honestly think of miles per gallon on kilometers by liter? In the US, we buy pop (soda. cola, soft drinks, sugar with fizz) by the 2 liter bottle, but milk and gas are sold by the gallon. Chips are sold by volume, not weight, and how they calculate air pockets in orange Cheetos I'll never know. I have no real idea of what a cubic foot of natural gas (how we heat the house) but I assume I could put it in a gas can? I have no idea beyond 10C is about 50F and 100C is boiling either, as I suspect is true of many Americans. I had a niece here the other day that asked what time it was, and I pointed to the clock that had just finished chiming. "Oh," she confided, "I only know digital time." This kid could not read a standard wall clock, and I'm glad I didn't point her to any roman numerals to confuse things even more? As you may have guessed, I'm coaching a fifth grader through math this year, and it's got me thinking. When she asks why gold is measured differently than lead, and why a quarter pound of butter is a half a cup and, my favorite, "Mom, why don't we use metric stuff all the time like the other countries?" Because, after all, based on 10, the math is easier. Any computer geek will tell you that a gig of ram = 1024 MB, which somehow makes sense in a world that still types on "qwerty" keyboards. the keys were designed to slow an English typist down so the keys wouldn't jam. Meanwhile, the third grader is learning that "through" "tough" and ""thorough" are all pronounced differently, and I don't know why that is, either, except he needs to learn it, just like we faithfully teach our kids metrics. People who deal drugs are very quick with gram conversions, so I suspect we, as a society, need to have a sense of urgency if anything will ever change. Bananas are sold by the pound. I'm going bananas repeating, "I don't know why, but you'd better learn it or you won't be able to do modern algebra!" Does anyone know what time it is? Depends where you are. Seems like time is the only standard the world adheres and agrees on, but that wasn't always the case (Julian or Gregorian?)

So, what's it like where you live? Are you metric or not? I live in Ohio, USA, and I'm not very metric. My husband has two sets of tools to work on the cars. He works in a mixture of metric and English at the factory, too. .0000 tolerances What is it like where you live? Do you have any absurd legacies like we do here in the US?

Johanna

[dbusarow]

Back in the '60s (you know, when kids actually worked on cars) I had a set of SAE for the American Iron, a set of Metric for the VWs, and a set of Whitworth for the Healy. At least EVERYTHING on one type of car was the same. Well at least now you won't find any Whitworth in anything current. I know they have British Standard too, but it was usually the same as SAE.

And sometime in the late 70s or early 80s GM cars started mixing metric in with the SAE so you needed both for GM cars. Not sure about Ford and Chrysler. I quit working on my own cars in the mid 80s, I'll still change oil and filters but that's it these days.

And yes, I did have a few Witworth wrenches too. Not a full set, just those I needed from time to time.

Dan

[$$hobby]

I learned/used it in college. my job out of school, i used it alot, but also along with imperial. some parts of the equipment was imperial and some metric.

my last job i used it too. the machinest didnt like it, but when designing, its easier, imo.

[Jordan]

Wish I had my dream car 1955 BN2, british racing green and buttersoft tan leather,,,OMG what a beautiful machine, oil leaks and all. I will stick to merican measurements as my brain won't learn metric. Just stubborn and poor at math anyway. If I had grown up elsewhere, I probably would be just as stubborn about using anything but metric.

[MADMAX22]

And sometime in the late 70s or early 80s GM cars started mixing metric in with the SAE so you needed both for GM cars. Not sure about Ford and Chrysler. I quit working on my own cars in the mid 80s, I'll still change oil and filters but that's it these days.

And yes, I did have a few Witworth wrenches too. Not a full set, just those I needed from time to time.

Dan

Ford did the same thing as well. I still try to work on as much as possible but the computers,airbags,sensors,........

[leatheroo]

i LOVE metric, we have been totally metric for as long as i can remember... i cant get my head around pounds and oz, feet and inches..all the measurements are different....if i cant divide something by 10, 100 or 1000 if doesnt make sense to me. However for a whole country as big as yours to change now would be such a huge undertaking, but on the other hand, have different countries on different systems seems a little crazy too.

[tonyc1]

I use Imperial all the time! All my rulers and tapes are Imperial, although I do have a 10 ' tape that has both so that I can convert measurements to Imperial. I tried to convert but made too many mistakes using metric (I hate Napoleon). I always think Imperial re. weights and measures and my wife who is only 46, thinks first in Imperial and then metric, perhaps shopping and cooking has something to do with it, with most groceries sold in metric. I can picture a 6' person but not someone 1.84 centimetres ? tall! Dollars and cents are ok, they're easier than the old Pounds, shillings and pence.

Tony.

[CitizenKate]

I still have my sets of metric wrenches from when I used to work on my 1965 VW Beetle. I still use them for things like when I buy something made overseas that requires assembly.

But all my design work is done in English units. I would really prefer metric, if more of what I bought here was measured in metric units. Metric is sooo much easier to do calculations with!

Kate

[TwinOaks]

riddle me this Batman:

Yeah, I know that the metric system's weight is based on grams.

"American" or at least non-metric is based on the ounce, pound, and ton.

So where the #$%^%$ did a metric ton come from?! And could it be divided into Metric pounds?

AAAAAAHHHHHHH!

I prefer to do my leather measurements in tool increments.

[celticleather]

Many moons ago, when I was a printer, we measured everything in points and picas. There were - and probably still are - twelve points to a pica, and six picas to an inch. But not an English inch; that would be too easy! The system was based on the American inch, which was, at the time, slightly different from the English inch (I've never quite understood this, because Caxton was printing in England before Columbus stumbled across America!).

When I became an archaeologist, everything was metric, but we still dig trenches that are one foot or two feet deep, and take off soil an inch at a time!

In the UK we now buy petrol (gasoline) in litres, and use it to drive miles (not kilometres), so we have fuel consumption expressed as 'miles per litre'.

When I buy leather, the thickness (weight) is usually specified in millimetres. For example 3.6 - 4.0mm is 9 - 10oz, but it's sold by the square foot, except when buying soling leather when it's very often sold by the kilogram. It's now illegal to sell stuff in the UK in imperial measures, so I don't know how the tanneries get away with it! (http://www.metricmartyrs.co.uk/)

Our money became 'metricated' in 1971, and this was a godsend! The old pounds, shillings and pence were every schoolchild's nightmare!

As for time, Johanna - they're working on it! (http://zapatopi.net/metrictime/)

I still think in imperial measures (I don't believe that's illegal yet), and I guess I always will, but I am just thankful that, for the purposes of mixing cement, a bucket of sand will continue to be a bucket of sand!

[Bree]

Metric??? What the heck is that? We don't need no metric in Buffalo!!

100% inches, feet, yards, miles, ounces, pounds, tons and all the other wonderful measurement types of the system I was born with in the good old USA.

[rawhide1]

I'm with ya Bree!!!! When my 4th grade daughter has math homework and it involves metric stuff I holler at the wife and let her help the girl.

Mike

[greg gomersall]

I used to live 30 miles south of Moose Jaw till the gov't made Canada metric. Been lost ever since, hell ended up in s.w. Idaho. Metric sucks. Greg

[Tina]

I'm with you Roo, I LOVE my metric system that make sense all the way...

I try my best to adapt to the American "system" but it's not easy, everything's a mess and you actually have to learn each system one by one (weight, lenght, volume etc) Metric is sooo easy, just 1, 10, 100, 1000 on all types...And a metric ton is of course 1000kg :-)

[tonyc1]

A Ton out here is 2240 pounds.Tony.

I'm with you Roo, I LOVE my metric system that make sense all the way...I try my best to adapt to the American "system" but it's not easy, everything's a mess and you actually have to learn each system one by one (weight, lenght, volume etc) Metric is sooo easy, just 1, 10, 100, 1000 on all types...And a metric ton is of course 1000kg :-)

Tina, I thought a Metric Ton would be a Tonne.Tony.

[Tina]

A Ton out here is 2240 pounds.Tony.Tina, I thought a Metric Ton would be a Tonne.Tony.

Well, You might be right about the English spelling on that one I have no idea...Where I come from it's Ton (I think actually with a big T but not sure, *hmmmmmm???*) We do learn brittish English in shool (manny, manny, manny, years ago) but i can't remeber much from that time, I'm sure it shows :-)

[Scary Leatherworks]

Some of the hospitals have started switching from Fahrenheit to Celcius. I've gotten used to it but it was difficult at first trying to think 98.6F = 37C. And a 2 degree rise in C to 39 = 102.2F (bad). Also when a patient is admitted they are weighed in pounds but some of the medication is based on mg per kg so another conversion is needed. it would be easier if we used all metric but I can't think of someone as 80kg as opposed to 176lbs.

Scott

[cem]

All metric for me, my mum tried to get me interested in making quilts with her a few years ago and they use imperial for that but after asking her for about the 50th time how you read all the funny little measurements on the inch rulers she gave up and is quite happy for me stay at the metric end of the table.

[Denise]

Canada is officially metric, but our largest trading partner is the US so most people up here know both fairly well, at least if they are over 20 years old. In Western Canada our rural road system laid out in a grid based on miles, so we drive so many km/hr to go so many miles. We buy gas in liters, and have conversion charts in the cars to figure out fuel usage in miles per gallon. The grocery store advertises its prices in dollars per lb and dollars per kg but the lb price is usually in larger letters, probably because it looks cheaper. Prepackaged foods are all labeled in grams, but I know my meat and produce prices by the lb. Most adults can tell you that it is 2.2 lbs in a kg but can't tell you their weight in kgs, only lbs. I almost have memorized a chart of X times 1.6 so I can figure out how many more kms to go to make X number of miles. I can be pretty accurate when I spread my figures apart a centimeter or an inch. I know 40 degrees Celsius is 104 Fahrenheit and minus 40 is the same in both – and COLD in either. I know there are 250 mls in a cup so I can convert between how much is in a can and what my recipe calls for quite easily, but I had to approach an older woman in the grocery store recently because my recipe called for so many ounces of something and I couldn't remember how many ounces were in a cup. Which is different than in a lb. And why does is the abbreviation for pound consist of two letters, neither of which occur in the word pound anyway? And why is rainfall the one thing measured in tenths of inches rather than halves and quarters and eighths? That one makes me wonder a little. And my "metric crescent wrench" works fine on anything - though I have to call in a spanner, pronounced "spanna", to use in on our NZ made electric fence if I want to follow the instructions exactly. Overall, I figure I am relatively bilingual even though I only know the English language. But please don't ask me the volume of a bushel or how big a hectare is. I have my limits.

[scooby]

We call it Metric and Imperial and even though I was only ever taught metric at school I use a mixture.

Temperature - metric - 'C

weight - metric

length - both - depending on the most appropriate measurement!

In fact it drives my wife batty when I mix measurements! - 'it is 20mm by 4 and a half inches'

[tonyc1]

Another anomaly is, that we always used Stones and Pounds when talking about our weight while you on the North American continent, just use pounds when describing a persons weight. I always weighed 11 stones seven pound, which was eleven and a half stones. Another anomaly is that since we weigh people in kilos, I am heavier, which makes me hate metrics more!!!

Tony.

[Ian]

All a matter of what you're used to, just like speaking your native language. Personaly, I hate trying to read all those tiny marks on metric rulers. They'll have to pry my inches from my cold dead fingers. And, I'd much rather buy leather by 2/3 oz than .078/1.19mm I have to look it up every time.

Edited December 12, 2008 by Ian

[Tina]

but I can't think of someone as 80kg as opposed to 176lbs.

Scott

...but think how nice to weigh 80 instead of 176

[todddarling1]

I've had to use Imperial, Metric and the Pica and Points, Systems. The hard part is keeping it all straight. I don't mind knowing different systems if they work to make whatever I'm doing easier. I guess I mostly use Imperial, but can jump in use whatever I need to at the time.

I measure some things strictly in metric, but tell my wife it's in inches.