Imperial Measures

I knit and I still think of size 8 needles, not 4mm ones^

I've converted to metric sizes, perhaps because I treated myself to some lovely new needles.
Then took up crochet ?

The move back towards imperial measurements, which the UK moved away from under EU rules, has been welcomed by Brexiteers.

But industry groups warned that new laws to change how the UK measures food and drink could cause already rocketing prices to increase further.

They expressed fears this could worsen the cost-of-living crisis, due to the expense of having to relabel products.

Andrea Martinez-Inchausti, assistant director of food at the British Retail Consortium, said: 'Supermarkets are focusing on delivering the best value for their customers in the face of intense inflationary pressures.

'Introducing new laws to change the way we measure food and drink would both distract from this vital task, and add cost and complexity if existing products are required to be relabelled.'

The BRC also pointed out that manufacturers and retailers are already free to list imperial measures alongside metric ones.

Joe Harrison, the chief executive of the National Market Traders Federation, questioned whether a return to imperial measures would be 'beneficial'.

He told the Daily Telegraph the move would be a 'hassle' and suggested that most members of the public no longer operate on imperial measurements.

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10870895/Retailers-warn-PMs-drive-bring-imperial-measurements-mean-higher-prices.html

I knit and I still think of size 8 needles, not 4mm ones

Any nurse who doesn't know the difference between 0.5g and 0.05g needs to be trained better.

Reading about the catastrophic spaceship error reminded me of another, even more tragic.
A nurse, misreading the metric dosage, accidentally administered ten times the required medication to a baby, resulting in its death.
The drawback with the metric system is that it's very easy to put a decimal point in the wrong place.

I still use many old knitting patterns, which use ounces, and have to work out how many grams of wool to purchase. I know my weight in stones and pounds, and have only a rough idea of what I weigh in kilos. My height is 5ft 0 inches, but I can never remember what it is in centimetres. Likewise, when buying some items of clothing measured in centimetres I have to write down my sizes before shopping.

OK. I'm a dinosaur, but I'm not alone. Local shopkeepers tell me that many older customers still ask for a "quarter of sweets," "half a yard of ribbon" or a "pound of steak."

I can't imagine turning back the clock, though, and reverting to the old ways. There would be mass nervous breakdowns from all those who have never known anything but metric.

Any business which exports components, or items which have to be compatible with items made in a different country would have to use the common standard, which is overwhelmingly metric.

The poster above specifically said they still use imperial. (Sorry "poster above", I'm not getting at you.)

I can't see any experienced manufacturer accidently confusing Imperial and metric if metric is the international standard.

Lockheed Martin and JPL got them mixed up. Lockheed Martin and JPL. They're quite experienced.

www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/thousands-of-uk-gas-customers-overcharged-due-to-metric-imperial-measure-mixup-a3320081.html

I'm not worried about it, I just think its bl**dy stupid.

@volver

There are people on here saying its about time we went back to imperial because they like it. Johnson is pandering to what he thinks are his core voters.

As I don't think he has as many core voters as he thinks he has, I tended to disregard the very few voices in favour of reverting to Imperial...

One poster talked about how her DH's business works in thou. That's a metric subdivision of an imperial measure. Just let that sink in for a minute. So businesses haven't been using metric for decades.

Without knowing anything at all about that poster's business I would surmise that they make a complete product. They mainly export to the US, too. Which doesn't use metric... And one swallow doesn't make a summer...

Any business which exports components, or items which have to be compatible with items made in a different country would have to use the common standard, which is overwhelmingly metric. I can't see any experienced manufacturer accidently confusing Imperial and metric if metric is the international standard.

Most of the examples in article you linked to were from the US, a country which seems to be totally confused. Have you any UK specific horrors caused by mixing Imperial & metric? After all, we've been metric for decades. If it were such a problem wouldn't there be some UK examples?

I think you are possibly worrying unduly.

Nannina

What a waste of time and money! We’ve never gone fully metric, I can still ask for a pound of mince or a pint of milk and the NHS still record my height in feet and inches. The last two generations have been brought up with the dual system and seem to cope pretty well. This is just Johnson trying to convince us of another Brexit ‘win’ to detract from the failures.

All my DC age 36 and down have been educated in metric measurements - height, weight etc as I suspect most of their age have. It would cost a fortune and be very difficult to re-educate everyone from that age into imperial again and all the schools would have to completely change again. Going from imperial to metric was relatively easy but going backwards is more difficult for example 16 ozs in a pound, 14 pounds in a stone. And these are fairly well recognised measurements. They don't flow easily. I have forgotten a lot of what I learned in school and I don't think I could remember most of it.

MaizieD

^This is about using mixed systems of measurements, which people on here seem to think will be OK.^

I don't think that anyone on here thinks it's OK, volver.

We're saying that in our personal lives and where there's an interface with retailers a mixture of systems doesn't cause any problem.

I'm confident that, as industry has been using metric for decades, there is no danger of cock ups such as the US example. Do you have evidence to the contrary?

And,basically, this is a storm in a teacup but we've all enjoyed having a little non contentious chat about it...

There are people on here saying its about time we went back to imperial because they like it. Johnson is pandering to what he thinks are his core voters.

One poster talked about how her DH's business works in thou. That's a metric subdivision of an imperial measure. Just let that sink in for a minute. So businesses haven't been using metric for decades.

usma.org/unit-mixups

The crashing roller coaster is quite an interesting one.

So anyway, in the real world it won't happen. But in the interim Johnson and co are stirring up nostalgia for a Britain that no longer exists and blaming the EU for all our trouble again. And there are posts on this thread which reflect that.

I manage without either tbh.
I buy on amount not weight.

I don’t want my grandchildren to have the wonderful experience of imperial measurements. I’m rather ok with things as they are. I can buy fabric by the metre ie. 39 ins. I now measure in either cms or inches just depending which happens to be easiest.

Imperial surely refers to Empire. I think that disappeared!

There is an absolutely fascinating thread on the history of measurement, and how it is linked to power and control (ruler in both its meanings) on Twitter. James Vincent, whose tweets they are, has just had a book on the subject published.

twitter.com/jjvincent/status/1530901940623880192?s=21&t=c46bOooO9UtuVovpDDBVtA

This is about using mixed systems of measurements, which people on here seem to think will be OK.

I don't think that anyone on here thinks it's OK, volver.

We're saying that in our personal lives and where there's an interface with retailers a mixture of systems doesn't cause any problem.

I'm confident that, as industry has been using metric for decades, there is no danger of cock ups such as the US example. Do you have evidence to the contrary?

And,basically, this is a storm in a teacup but we've all enjoyed having a little non contentious chat about it...

He’s just throwing a dead cat on the table again.

Nothing to do with the British.

Amazingly, the world doesn't revolve around Britain, although some are loathe to believe that.

This is about using mixed systems of measurements, which people on here seem to think will be OK.

volver

No British engineering teams were involved in this event. It shows the problems you can have when people think its "OK" to mix imperial and metric.

And yes, its true.

Yes, I think I remember it now.

Nothing to do with the British!
USA is still using the imperial system now.

Horses mouth

www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1999-oct-01-mn-17288-story.html#:~:text=NASA%20lost%20its%20%24125%2Dmillion,space%20agency%20officials%20said%20Thursday.

No British engineering teams were involved in this event. It shows the problems you can have when people think its "OK" to mix imperial and metric.

And yes, its true.

Or have I got this wrong - Lockheed is an American company so the team would be using American units of measurement ie imperial.

mokryna

Expensive mistakes can happen.
^(CNN) -- NASA lost a $125 million Mars orbiter because a Lockheed Martin engineering team used English units of measurement while the agency's team used the more conventional metric system for a key spacecraft operation, according to a review finding released Thursday.30 Sept 1999^

Is that true? ?

I can't believe a British engineering team wouldn't be using metric in 1999!
The USA still uses imperial measurements

You'd think someone would have noticed.

My dear old Dad once asked DH to buy him some worktop - 39 inches he wanted. ‘Oh’ said OH ‘you want a metre’. ‘No’ said Dad ‘39 inches!’ He was a Quantity Surveyor by profession and never accepted metric measurements for building materials.

That’s exactly what I do. And don’t we all sometimes mentally convert the price of something such as a stamp (daylight robbery) into old money and say ‘HOW much?’?

I’m sure many will sympathise with this view?

Monty Don

Although a devout european, I have never mastered the metric system. Everything has to be converted in my head to imperial before I can understand it, be it cm, metres, litres,hectares, kilos or grams.

Expensive mistakes can happen.
(CNN) -- NASA lost a $125 million Mars orbiter because a Lockheed Martin engineering team used English units of measurement while the agency's team used the more conventional metric system for a key spacecraft operation, according to a review finding released Thursday.30 Sept 1999

What a waste of time and money! We’ve never gone fully metric, I can still ask for a pound of mince or a pint of milk and the NHS still record my height in feet and inches. The last two generations have been brought up with the dual system and seem to cope pretty well. This is just Johnson trying to convince us of another Brexit ‘win’ to detract from the failures.