Imperial Measures

Nichola Surgeon quoted “Those who the Gods seek to destroy first make ridiculous”. Think it fits the situation. Read that Rees Mogg came up with the idea but Johnson runs with any idea that isolates us from Europe. The fact that we still need to trade with them doesn’t count. No wonder we can’t reach agreements with them. As for the cost and further complications well that is ridiculous. In order to gain a real handle on measurements you have to experience them for quite awhile. In our case we took our experience of imperial and used it to comprehend metric. For example a metre is a bit longer than a yard, 30 centimetres is a foot etc etc. Are we going to inflict such an unnecessary reversal on our younger generation. What a blooming idiot. Let’s get rid of Johnson and not metric measurement.

The whole engineering industry changed to metric many years ago it’s going to cause a lot problems to change all that. My guess is that retailers will be able to sell in pounds and ounces, pubs have sold pints as 500ml that will continue

Jaylou

It was a surprise announcement, a welcome one, the two systems can be used side by side, pick which you prefer.
Hopefully now a nice sunny day will be 70F instead of 21C, an I have never known my weight in kilos.
How many people still go into a pub and ask for a pint of lager (rhetorical question!), I know they wouldn't get a pint, but they still use the term.
Definitely think our money shouldn't revert though, metric is easier.

Actually they do get a pint. Pubs have glasses with a one pint or 20fl. oz mark just below the rim (to prevent spillages).

As a breaker of promises maybe Boris is just delivering the promise he made at election time to show he can keep a promise.

Jaylou

It was a surprise announcement, a welcome one, the two systems can be used side by side, pick which you prefer.
Hopefully now a nice sunny day will be 70F instead of 21C, an I have never known my weight in kilos.
How many people still go into a pub and ask for a pint of lager (rhetorical question!), I know they wouldn't get a pint, but they still use the term.
Definitely think our money shouldn't revert though, metric is easier.

When I worked in a pub, after metrification, beer, stout and lager were asked for by the pint/half pint, charged for by the pint, and served in those measures.

A little plain line was put on glasses, and the bar person poured up to that.

The only difference here is a crown being put back.

> Why change now.Prices jumped following last change so is it a ploy to cover high increases of today.

So if a kilogramme of carrots sells for x amount of money, how much will be charged for two pounds of carrots?

If the answer in practice is x, then that will be a price increase.

What a silly idea, I use both and am happy to do so. Think of the disruptions in schools, again.

vegansrock

Are we going back to £SD then? No , thought not. All hot air.

If the (former) penny were issued again, it could add to the realism when visiting a heritage railway.

Though a fare of several pounds for a relatively short journey rather than something like "one and ninepence" would not be keeping up the effect.

It was a surprise announcement, a welcome one, the two systems can be used side by side, pick which you prefer.
Hopefully now a nice sunny day will be 70F instead of 21C, an I have never known my weight in kilos.
How many people still go into a pub and ask for a pint of lager (rhetorical question!), I know they wouldn't get a pint, but they still use the term.
Definitely think our money shouldn't revert though, metric is easier.

I think older people, such as myself, are generally managing with both measurements. For me I find it an advantage as I can use old knitting patterns for example quite happily as well as using metric for new recipes.

Why change now.Prices jumped following last change so is it a ploy to cover high increases of today.
DH ex engineer uses millimetres and coverts most measurements easily where as I visualise in Imperial so makes DIY planning a task.
Definitely a measure twice cut once rule here.
Totally my fault in resisting to convert although with thought can do it and do so for DGC
Most still want to know baby weight in lbs and ounces.

Mamardoit

It's just removing a law which made a market trader selling a pound of grapes a criminal. Do you think the police should waste time solving these 'easy' crimes Oldnproud?

I'm not against legislation on this, to reflect what is practical and works best for most people in modern Britain, and that includes allowing vendors to sell in whatever unit they wish, as long as it is transparent.

What I am angry about is Johnson's attempt to capitalise on this.

BTW, do the police even get involved in such things? Wouldn't it be up to local Trading Standards?

No, it's silly. Anyone under the age of about 50 won't understand Imperial anyway.

I don't believe most of this anyway - Johnson is just throwing red meat to the Brexiteers.

But, to gladden sone hearts, they are putting the little crown back onto the line mark on pint beer glasses...??

Jolly good, although beer etc has still been ordered and poured in pints/half pints, when we were EU members, as before, I'm sure there was much clamouring for that to happen lol

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10864245/Boris-Johnson-brings-Crown-symbol-pint-glasses-Queens-Platinum-Jubilee.html

vegansrock

So if it’s no biggie why is Johnson announcing it as if it is ?

I think we all know why...

H1954

Oldnproud

For goodness sake, surely by now, after all these years, we should all have adapted to the simple metric system!

No! Definitely not! When I bake, I measure in pounds and ounces, when I sew I measure in inches and when I drive I measure the journey in miles!
My local butcher will still weight out in imperial measures too; many of his customers are in their 80's and 90's, try telling them to ask for 100gr of boiled ham!

When it comes to pounds and ounces, it's surprising how easily so many "I don't do grams" people adapt and manage when holidaying abroad, the same as they do with foreign currency after a few days. I'm saying this as someone who realised that I was guilty of this myself, and finally acknowledged that my previous 'hopelessness' with them when here in England was selective (or should that be 'elective?)!

As for the rest, how hard can it be to bake or sew in whatever measurement the recipe or pattern is in? Modern scales swap between different units at the press of a button, and surely every household has rulers or tape measures that can measure both inches and centimeters?

Our UK road signs are still in m.p.h.! Ditto tyre pressure measurement. Imperial has never really ‘gone away’.

I carry a conversion tape measure in my wallet at all times. It's worn to death.

It's just removing a law which made a market trader selling a pound of grapes a criminal. Do you think the police should waste time solving these 'easy' crimes Oldnproud?

It's obvious, isn't it: Johnson knows that he is now even losing the support of significant numbers of his previously most enthusiastic supporters - Brexiters.

He's thought, "What cheap little scrap can I throw that will resonate with that specific demographic and keep them on my side? Ah, yes, Imperial measures. Nothing more 'British' than those, and with a bit of spin about how the nasty EU took them away from us in the first place, they'll swallow it in one!"

Oldnproud

For goodness sake, surely by now, after all these years, we should all have adapted to the simple metric system!

No! Definitely not! When I bake, I measure in pounds and ounces, when I sew I measure in inches and when I drive I measure the journey in miles!
My local butcher will still weight out in imperial measures too; many of his customers are in their 80's and 90's, try telling them to ask for 100gr of boiled ham!

It's still a pint of beer or lager in the pub always has been I think, that's what people ask for anyway. New babies weight can only relate to lbs and ounces. Weigh myself most days in stones and lbs, height in feet and inches. If baking can cope with metric. Still think of distance in miles, miles per hour when driving. Do you remember the chap who was procecuted for selling his bananas by the pound, now that was ridiculous.

More the media making it a biggie maybe.

So if it’s no biggie why is Johnson announcing it as if it is ?

It's nothing to do with bringing back imperil measures. It's just making it no longer a crime to sell things in pounds and ounces. So it won't affect anything in Sainsburys, B&Q etc. Nothing to get knickers in a twist over.

Metric is easier but we all managed to work in base 12, 20, 14, 16 etc. in junior school. It's certainly not too hard for children to understand.

The only thing I still do in imperial is bake (cooking in general). It is so much easier. My own DC cooked in metric measures at school because thy had to. At home they copied me and used lbs and oz. I cook with the DGC and just explain that at school they will be expected to use different measures. It doesn't confuse them at all.

I think the use of Imperial units is merely to be permitted alongside metric.

I tend to do weights - half a pound of cheese, my weight on the scales ? - in Imperial but I cook and measure in metric, except for road distances and mpg. Temperatures in Celsius but windspeeds in mph.

Happy to be ambi.

I had to scale down an old pattern by 50% the other day - the sizes were in inches such as 3 3/8ths and 5 7/8ths. This was doable for me, though I checked with a calculator - changed all into 16ths, then halved, then converted back into a different fraction etc . but there were several different measurements and different fractions which then had to be drawn accurately. It was so much easier and quicker to transfer the original measurement into cms and divide by 2 and the measurements were more accurate. Just pointing this out as one reason the building and other trades went metric and I doubt if they are going back any time soon,