Why do Brits still use stone as a measurement?
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You guys don't use stones, though, do you?christinev297 wrote: »I haven't read the replies yet...
But I ask myself all the time why Americans still use pounds and ounces etc??????
We stopped using those back in the 1960's before I was born! Welcome to the metric system guys
Also, there are other countries out there besides America, who also don't "speak American"
I've known exactly one Australian in my whole life...and not that well, lol.
No, I think we used to back in the day. We use kilograms, litres, milligrams etc etc
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Metrics is a better system and it will eventually prevail.0
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It's very expensive to switch. It's hard enough to force everyone to learn and use, but the costs involved have made it impractical.pinkraynedropjacki wrote: »Why do Yanks still use Imperial as measurement when the rest of the world uses Metric?
As America falls further behind in industry, it will happen.
Is it? It wouldn't happen overnight, of course, but the move to switch over in a serious way would be a worthwhile expense; it seems so to me, anyway.
My husband is an engineer and he complains all the time about the customary measures and how having to mentally switch back and forth between customary and metric is extremely dangerous and always ripe for expensive screw ups on expensive machinery.
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An expense for someone else, though, right? You don't personally want to put up the billions of dollars. If you personally had to pay it, it might seem less "worthwhile." It might even seem impossible.Lourdesong wrote: »
It's very expensive to switch. It's hard enough to force everyone to learn and use, but the costs involved have made it impractical.pinkraynedropjacki wrote: »Why do Yanks still use Imperial as measurement when the rest of the world uses Metric?
As America falls further behind in industry, it will happen.
Is it? It wouldn't happen overnight, of course, but the move to switch over in a serious way would be a worthwhile expense; it seems so to me, anyway.
My husband is an engineer and he complains all the time about the customary measures and how having to mentally switch back and forth between customary and metric is extremely dangerous and always ripe for expensive screw ups on expensive machinery.
For better or worse, the people who would actually have to do the paying have not been as in favor of it as those who won't actually be ponying up the cash.
It cannot be done all at once. People will continue needing quarter-inch bolts until whatever uses them is obsolete. So, the point of adding a new system when the old one must be continued...people have long felt, "What is the point? Just to change systems?"
Millions of things - from the tiniest washer to the largest mold - and all kinds of parts have to be converted. Every drill bit that drills the holes (and all those molds), everything. It's a huge and very, very expensive thing. And the old stuff has to continue to be made to replace parts on the old stuff. Can't very well say, "Sorry that your faucet can't be turned off / car doesn't run / bridge is falling down. We no longer have those parts. We switched systems."
The entire industrial world worked on our system. Machines all over the world were designed for it.
As we fall further behind, industrially, it will change. It's already happening. But it's a long and expensive process, so the people who pay the cash are going about it as cheaply as they can.
I'm in favor of One System and metric is as good as any. It's easier to learn for kids. The whole world could work together, easily. Nobody would have to remember who they were talking to before they used a measurement.
It will be great when it happens. But I'll probably be dead before that time. So, I live with it. 0 -
pinkraynedropjacki wrote: »Why do Yanks still use Imperial as measurement when the rest of the world uses Metric?
But we don't use Imperial. A US gallon is 128 (fluid) oz., which means that a US quart is 32 oz. and a US pint is 16 oz. An Imperial gallon is 160 oz., or 20 oz. per pint. That's why British pint glasses are 25% larger than US pint glasses. But US beer these days (leaving aside the mass-produced stuff) is about 25% more potent than real ale and bitter, so it all works out in the end.
Then, when you find the right pub that only serves US and German stuff, but in UK pints... imagine it, an imperial pint of Old Rasputin.0 -
Because losing 2lb a week is infinitely more satisfying than 0.9kg. And losing a stone is a big deal.
But I use both. I know my own weight in stones/pounds and kilos and as a nurse use kilos at work so I can gauge both fairly well and can usually convert fairly quickly for the bemused looking patient in the corner who had no idea they were 70kg (11 stone). I just prefer stones for my own weight loss. For distance and measuring I prefer metric, never really able to guess a mile but a km I am ok with, same with inches/feet and cm/m. I weigh food in grammes. I can use both but prefer the metric.0 -
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christinev297 wrote: »I haven't read the replies yet...
But I ask myself all the time why Americans still use pounds and ounces etc??????
We stopped using those back in the 1960's before I was born! Welcome to the metric system guys
Also, there are other countries out there besides America, who also don't "speak American"
you know i always always wonder what is it that they teach "americans" in school, i mean it's a whole freaking continent with many many countries but god help us if someone who's not from the U.S refers himself as an american, i mean if u tell me north america i'll be alright with that but apparently central america/caribbean and south america doesn't count as part of the continent, i've had many conversation with friends they're like ' nooop is only one america and that's USA'
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christinev297 wrote: »I haven't read the replies yet...
But I ask myself all the time why Americans still use pounds and ounces etc??????
We stopped using those back in the 1960's before I was born! Welcome to the metric system guys
Also, there are other countries out there besides America, who also don't "speak American"
you know i always always wonder what is it that they teach "americans" in school, i mean it's a whole freaking continent with many many countries but god help us if someone who's not from the U.S refers himself as an american, i mean if u tell me north america i'll be alright with that but apparently central america/caribbean and south america doesn't count as part of the continent, i've had many conversation with friends they're like ' nooop is only one america and that's USA'
As an "American" who travels often to Canada, and Mexico, I find the whole way we claim "America" very odd myself.0 -
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I just came in to see if this was seriously being asked.0
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you know i always always wonder what is it that they teach "americans" in school, i mean it's a whole freaking continent with many many countries but god help us if someone who's not from the U.S refers himself as an american
Your friends seem weird. I don't care if someone from another part of the continent wants to call themselves an American. Seems to me most don't--Canadians certainly seem worried about getting mixed up with us already and most people seem to identify more with their specific country than their continent--but if it's some desire of yours, go for it.
To be honest, it kind of seems more like you don't like that WE use the term "American," but I'm not going to stop using it when it's commonly understood and a legitimate shorter way of saying "someone from the United States of America" just because there are lots of other countries in North and South America. I might if there were a good alternative (and if you gave me some reason to do so), but there's not, since USian sounds dumb.0 -
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I think Americans and Canadians are comparable to Australians and New Zealanders. Don't EVER call a New Zealander an Aussie or vice versa. The difference being we have an ocean between us. You guys can just hop in the car and drive to Canada and Mexico. That fascinates me
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christinev297 wrote: »I think Americans and Canadians are comparable to Australians and New Zealanders. Don't EVER call a New Zealander an Aussie or vice versa. The difference being we have an ocean between us. You guys can just hop in the car and drive to Canada and Mexico. That fascinates me
I used to go to Canada every summer, usually crossing the border at Port Huron, Michigan. Invariably, when I crossed into Canada the border guard on the Canadian side would ask if I had any guns or cigarettes. When I crossed back into Michigan the guard would ask about fruit and sometimes alcohol.
I always thought that was funny--Canadians worried about American guns, Americans worried about Canadian fruit.
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lemurcat12 wrote: »christinev297 wrote: »I think Americans and Canadians are comparable to Australians and New Zealanders. Don't EVER call a New Zealander an Aussie or vice versa. The difference being we have an ocean between us. You guys can just hop in the car and drive to Canada and Mexico. That fascinates me
I used to go to Canada every summer, usually crossing the border at Port Huron, Michigan. Invariably, when I crossed into Canada the border guard on the Canadian side would ask if I had any guns or cigarettes. When I crossed back into Michigan the guard would ask about fruit and sometimes alcohol.
I always thought that was funny--Canadians worried about American guns, Americans worried about Canadian fruit.
haha
your gun laws are the exact opposite to here. They're pretty much banned in Aus. But alas the bad guys still get hold of them. But they're not as easy to get as in the US. I've never seen a gun store in my life or a real life gun!
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christinev297 wrote: »your gun laws are the exact opposite to here. They're pretty much banned in Aus. But alas the bad guys still get hold of them. But they're not as easy to get as in the US. I've never seen a gun store in my life or a real life gun!
In WA we carry them.0 -
Liftng4Lis wrote: »christinev297 wrote: »your gun laws are the exact opposite to here. They're pretty much banned in Aus. But alas the bad guys still get hold of them. But they're not as easy to get as in the US. I've never seen a gun store in my life or a real life gun!
In WA we carry them.
That would freak me out
There's way too many shooting deaths in America! It gets plastered all over our news screens every time it happens 
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We had one mass shooting here back in the 80's. Pretty much straight away they brought in the ban guns law, and we haven't had one since...0
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JazzFischer1989 wrote: »I don't think that's something they can answer, lol. It's just the way it is. Why do we use inches and feet instead of meters and centimeters like the rest of the world?
Apparently Ronald Reagan is the reason.0 -
Lourdesong wrote: »
It's very expensive to switch. It's hard enough to force everyone to learn and use, but the costs involved have made it impractical.pinkraynedropjacki wrote: »Why do Yanks still use Imperial as measurement when the rest of the world uses Metric?
As America falls further behind in industry, it will happen.
Is it? It wouldn't happen overnight, of course, but the move to switch over in a serious way would be a worthwhile expense; it seems so to me, anyway.
My husband is an engineer and he complains all the time about the customary measures and how having to mentally switch back and forth between customary and metric is extremely dangerous and always ripe for expensive screw ups on expensive machinery.
It can be both expensive and dangerous, indeed:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gimli_Glider
But life goes on. Some 30 years after the switch to the metric system in Canada I still buy my solid groceries (deli, produce) in pounds, but the milk comes in litres. I fill up the car tank in litres, but everyone wants to know what is the mileage on my new car. My height and weight are always expressed in imperial, but I run in kilometres, and I buy fabric in yards. The weather report goes in Celsius, but when my kid runs a fever is Fahrenheit.
If you think about it, it is good brain exercise. Keeps us sharp. 0 -
It's different in different places. I spent about forty years living in a place where I knew the city and suburbs very, very well. Never once saw a gun store. Anything else anyone needed, I could say, "Go Here." Guns - legal guns, like you buy in a store - I'd have had no clue, lol. Didn't know anyone who (legally) carried a gun.christinev297 wrote: »lemurcat12 wrote: »christinev297 wrote: »I think Americans and Canadians are comparable to Australians and New Zealanders. Don't EVER call a New Zealander an Aussie or vice versa. The difference being we have an ocean between us. You guys can just hop in the car and drive to Canada and Mexico. That fascinates me
I used to go to Canada every summer, usually crossing the border at Port Huron, Michigan. Invariably, when I crossed into Canada the border guard on the Canadian side would ask if I had any guns or cigarettes. When I crossed back into Michigan the guard would ask about fruit and sometimes alcohol.
I always thought that was funny--Canadians worried about American guns, Americans worried about Canadian fruit.
haha
your gun laws are the exact opposite to here. They're pretty much banned in Aus. But alas the bad guys still get hold of them. But they're not as easy to get as in the US. I've never seen a gun store in my life or a real life gun!
Then I moved to a new state and I swear, they're all over the place. Big signs as you drive down the street, "GUNS". All kinds of people carrying them around, all the time. If you're in a restaurant outside the tourist areas, there's a good chance someone is carrying. It's so very different.
I don't view them much differently than a lawnmower blade or fire. It can be dangerous, you have to be careful, but I don't wig out at the sight of it. Of course, the purpose of fire isn't (generally) to kill someone, but it's the same general feeling - caution, keep the kids away, respect the power...just no real fear. My dad was in a war and a sniper part of the time, so he kind of put the fear of God into us as kids about the gun and then helped us get past that when we got older. I remember feeling like that, though - scared to death of the guns. 0 -
Officially it's United States of Mexico, United States of Brazil, United States of Colombia, and maybe more I'm not aware of. United States of America is clearly a misnomer since all of the above are in America. That said, it's not going to change and the majority will continue to call this country "America."0
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Do you weigh yourself in cups? How many cups do you weigh?!grantevans11 wrote: »I'm a Brit and always go off grams and kilograms - but stones and pounds definitely makes more sense than cups!0 -
I think I understand the point you're trying to make, about Americans being so arrogant. (Can verify. From America.)christinev297 wrote: »I haven't read the replies yet...
But I ask myself all the time why Americans still use pounds and ounces etc??????
We stopped using those back in the 1960's before I was born! Welcome to the metric system guys
Also, there are other countries out there besides America, who also don't "speak American"
you know i always always wonder what is it that they teach "americans" in school, i mean it's a whole freaking continent with many many countries but god help us if someone who's not from the U.S refers himself as an american, i mean if u tell me north america i'll be alright with that but apparently central america/caribbean and south america doesn't count as part of the continent, i've had many conversation with friends they're like ' nooop is only one america and that's USA'
However, to clarify:
"America" is not a continent.
South America is not the same continent as North America. They're two separate continents. It is not one big continent with many many countries. It's two big continents with many many countries.
Just sayin'.
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Most Canucks I know never have. It's always been "the US" or "the United States" or "the States".0somuchbetter0 wrote: »Officially it's United States of Mexico, United States of Brazil, United States of Colombia, and maybe more I'm not aware of. United States of America is clearly a misnomer since all of the above are in America. That said, it's not going to change and the majority will continue to call this country "America."
The only time we ever heard "America" was on the New York TV stations.
We do call you guys Americans though...I never even thought about it until some Brits referred to us as some guests from America, which was technically correct (they knew we were Canadian).
ETA
I laughed about the post correcting the imperial gallon though.
Being Canadian, we were/are influenced by the elephant on our border who can roll over anytime and the old mother countries of Europe, mostly Great Britain. We've always had to convert US gallons, imperial gallons and now the litre. I have wine carboys that are 5 gallon (23 l), and 5 gallon (19 l).
...and don't get me started about writing an electrician's license in metric when most of the building materials still come from the US and in practice everyone still uses feet and inches in the trade...0 -
Mexico is "The United States," too.
Most Canucks I know never have. It's always been "the US" or "the United States" or "the States".0somuchbetter0 wrote: »Officially it's United States of Mexico, United States of Brazil, United States of Colombia, and maybe more I'm not aware of. United States of America is clearly a misnomer since all of the above are in America. That said, it's not going to change and the majority will continue to call this country "America."
The only time we ever heard "America" was on the New York TV stations.
We do call you guys Americans though...I never even thought about it until some Brits referred to us as some guests from America, which was technically correct (they knew we were Canadian).
It isn't like we current Americans named the country. It isn't arrogance. It just is.
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This whole thread makes me smile because I know its dripping with Brits
- ADORABLE!!!
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