anyone else fed up with

My feet are 39!

That's really going to help in trading with other countries if we go back to imperial units. Even the US had to convert to trading in because it was so confusing to have two systems. In days gone by they used to run huge computer programs to convert from one to the other when installing things like nuclear power stations - can you imagine getting that wrong? Well, in fact they did in one notorious case in space flight when they didn't realise that stuff coming from the US was in their imperial units and everybody else was working in metric.

You all might like still thinking in imperial units, but can you remember how difficult it was using them to calculate - adding lbs and ozs when you worked in base 16, or feet and inches in base 12, or stones and lbs when you worked in base 14, or £, shillings and pence when first you worked in base 12 and then base 20?

OK, confession time: I measure my height in ft and ins, weight I'm OK with both stones and kgs, cooking is metric both weight and volume, measuring still really ft and ins, distances definitely miles rather than kms, temperature definitely centigrade - Fahrenheit is just stupid, money definitely decimal.

Sorry that should be 'trading in metric'. Please can't we have an edit facility???

Why is milk still sold in pints? My butcher still sells in pounds. Petrol in litres sounds cheaper than gallons e.g. 112p a litre works out I believe to £5. 04 a gallon. I remember years ago my husband grumbling because petrol had gone up to 4s 6d a gallon.

I live abroad but still convert kms to miles by dividing by 8 and then multiplying by 5.

The way I find out roughly what the temoerature is is to double the centrigade figure and then add 30. So 15C x2 =30 +30=60. As you go higher it's not exact but a good rough guide.

Oh flaxwoven I'm definately with you on this one.Im in the process of buying a sofa, I was out all yesterday going around the furniture stores. I had written down all my measurements in feet and inches, and of course the shops are all in CM. I had to google it to convert it or ask an assistant who had no idea what feet and inches it was so he had to convert it the other way.I can't be bothered to learn it all at my age so I stick with what I know and rely on google.

Badenkate Good post about the conversion headaches! I also struggled over something else rather mundane in comparison. US paper does not follow ISO. No A4 - A0, etc... their A4 is called Letter and is a different size. I often find computer software I use for modelling is by default set to inches vs cm/mm. Pain in the bum! Most of the world is on metric.

Yes, edit would be nice.

I had a job where I spent a lot of the time converting, mainly weights, from imperial to metric and back again. I know all the conversion factors for weights, lengths, volume to convert between metric and imperial and use them frequently, BUT, I still automatically operate with the imperial system. Recipes are in lbs and oz, I measure my weight is in stones and pounds and distances in inches, feet, yards and miles.

Great to read all your interesting comments, and some made me chuckle, please keep them coming. It's clear some people are stuck in the past like me, some have a foot in both camps and some have fully embraced metric. I accept that metric is the future, we can't turn the clock back, but many areas of life in this country are still Imperial; it's difficult to erase centuries of tradition. At least my Delia Smith cookbook gives both Imperial and Metric!

Living in a very rural part of Devon, for me all distances are measured in time, rather than distance!

Somewhere can be only 10 miles away, but you might have to allow at least 20 minutes to get there, maybe more on market day!

I'm still pints, feet and inches, lbs and ounces .I just can't visualise kilos etc and as for converting one to the other. No thank you

Had to smile at this because my MIL refused to go metric! She said she was too old to change.

Maybe we will change back after BREXIT but I doubt it. The youngsters today, including my GCh know nothing else do they.

Here is something to help dieters.

www.thecalculatorsite.com/conversions/charts/kg-to-stones-pounds-table.php

You might find this interesting:

www.joeydevilla.com/2008/08/13/countries-that-dont-use-the-metric-system/

Guess what!

www.theshovel.com.au/2014/03/25/australia-to-reinstate-imperial-measurement-system/

phoenix I too live in rural Devon & was brought up in rural Yorkshire, yes distance is measured in time not miles for most of my journeys, depending on time of day, market day etc miles mean nothing

I'm only 61 but still work mostly in Imperial measures, my DGS who is nearly 7, when he was born weight was give in pounds & ounces. Height, weight have to be Imperial.

Prefer Farenheit to Centigrade. Travel in miles & although petrol is in litres I do convert to gallons, 4.5 litres = 1 gallon. Buy meat in pounds, my scales have both so it's not a problem with recipes.

I was born in the 70s & do everything the old way except temperature...... I've no clue if it's not in Celsius!

Our DS is a carpenter (born 1977) and he works in metric for big measurements but imperial for anything under one centimetre. I find I slip from metric to imperial now depending who I'm with, but still think in imperial.

Metric for everything except babies and patchwork. When I worked in the clothing industry, the measurements were all metric but the garments were ordered and sold by the dozen

I agree totally. I still say pounds, ounces, inches and feet and will continue to do so forever. Let's hope that we can hang onto them, eh? We're British first and kilos, grams, meters and centimeters just don't cut the mustard.

The entire UK oil & gas industry still works in imperial. I believe this is because in the early days a lot of equipment and tooling came from the US.

YES, I do!! I dont really care about moving with the times...I move with them when I need to.. I'happy as I am. I wonder when we finally BREXIT will we resume pounds and ounces etc.

Clothing sizes are a mystery, not only because of metric but sizes seem to have increased.
There was a lady in the newspaper recently complaining to a shop that she was a size 12, but that their size 12 was too small for her.
She had a 37" bust, sorry but in my day a a size 12 was a 34" bust, no wonder the dress didn't fit.

I'm so glad to see most of you use imperial measurements. I lived out of the UK for 40 years and we always used the 'old' measurements before I left and when I returned in 2005. Even bought a book of metric conversion. I wish we could go back to the 'old' way. I thought I was the odd one out!

I go with the flow, but I think in lbs and oz and I use feet and inches. The younger generation are the ones who need to panic now. Maybe after Brexit we will be reverting back? :-)