I've been working, thinking and calculating in both systems all my life - why do you want to go back exclusively to an obsolete system that is based on bizarre units like inches - feet - yards - furlongs - rods - poles - perches - acres - pints- quarts -gallons- british thermal units- calories etc when the metric system is decimal based? - ie tens of everything?

Like I said - I have no problem with both systems - I carry the conversions for most of the common stuff either way in my head - always have.

Yes, very funny. But our road signs are in miles, yards and feet. Our speedometers still read in miles. Houses are still described in sq. feet. Land still sold by the acre. Cars still measured in BHP. Torque still generally measured in ft-lb. I don't see why they're going the extra 'mile' pardon the pun, to use metric. Good luck asking for half a litre of beer in a pub.

When I worked for a major housebuilder nearly 20 years ago, we mostly worked in square metres - we only converted it to square feet for the buyers.

I always think of torque in Nm.

I mostly drink my beer at home, from 0.5 litre bottles.

We should be completing the adoption of the metric system, not running away from it.

The International System of Units has been adopted by most developed countries; however, the adoption has not been universal in all English-speaking countries. If we're going to be a modern, international country again, why would we use units that make it harder to trade with countries we wish to trade with?

Edited by Marlot on 30/08/2016 at 09:12

It has everything to do with the EU and its forbears. Its laws govern the use of metric measurements through directives that we have had to implement.

It annoys me intensely when journalists report weather events in Fahrenheit.

When I started grammar school back in 65, we were taught in si units. Decimalisation in 71 was necessary and easy to adopt.

What's the fuss? Its nothing to do with the EU, its an international system.

That'll be 55 pounds 2shillings threepence ha'penny for your 10 gallons Mr Charlton. Would you like green stamps with that sir?

I agree - I have absolutely no feel for the figures. Can I wear shorts in weather that is 50? 60? 70? 90? I've no idea. The only figure I'm aware of is 32F, as freezing.

I can work in both metric or imperial (and do) but, I'm finding when doing DIY around the house that I work mainly in metric now due to everything being specified in metric.

All I want now is a tape measure that is metric only.

I have to admit being a luddite when it comes to MPG, I just cannot get used to the X litres/100km

Edited by Wackyracer on 30/08/2016 at 12:11

I'm an old Luddite - taught both Imperial and Metric at Grammar School - I've never found it difficult to convert commonly used measures from one to the other, without recourse to a calculator.

What really annoys me is the use of DIN instead of Metric - DIN is just a German domestic standard, like BS was in the UK, and should only be used in that single country - but the global motor industry thinks it's fine to quote engine power outputs in PS which is PferdeSterke, ie Horsepower in German.

Why it's considered acceptably to use internationally an Imperial unit b******ised into German I'll never know.

Becomes interesting when you have to design platforms in metric to accommodate American equipment designed in Imperial.

The USA is the only industrialised country where the Systeme Internationale is not the official system of measurement. Apparently the only other two countries not using it are Liberia and Myanmar. Metric units have been permitted in the USA by law since 1866.

A Select Committee recommended the adoption of metric units for all purposes as far back as 1862; legalised for all purposes in 1896.

Systeme Internationale didn't come into being until 1960, the Metric System (on which SI is based) is much older going back to 1799.

The USA doesn't use "Imperial" measure - it uses the "United States Customary System" (USCS) which uses many of the names in Imperial but in different sizes!

"what did the Metric system ever achieve?"

A degree of simplicity - that 's what it achieved.

I had to work on the motor of our dumper truck yesterday - It's a Briggs and Stratton 9000 Series 6.5 hp- fuel starvation. All the fasteners were metric.

The biggest con, and most inflationary change, was to change to selling petrol by the litre instead of gallons.

Why? Inflation was galloping along whether we changed to litres or not.

The biggest con, and most inflationary change, was to change to selling petrol by the litre instead of gallons.

I'm sure people said the same when decimisation took place (1971) and at the introduction of the Euro in Europe - at least we were spared that one!