Imperial or metric...

Said I'd put this up seeing as it's pre-season and quiet...maybe make a poll out of it...Do you use imperial measures (i.e. feet, miles, pounds, etc.) or metric ones (i.e. metres, kilometres, grammes, etc.)?

Forced metrication has been going on in Ireland for a while now, and yet there's never been any discussion on it, which is strange (maybe I'm wrong, but can't remember any?). The Brits are going mad at it - one lad even successfully sued for damages when he damaged his car on a height barrier which was only measured in metres! Personally, I can't see the point of wasting millions on a new measurement system which (seemingly) very few associate with when we already have a perfectly good one with which everyone is comfortable.

So what's people's views? Will wait and see what turns up before commenting any further...

Metric makes sense!
People talk yards in football all the time and I can never visualise the distance. I hate it here in England when they talk about the weather in fahrenheit. I don't know if I should wear sun block or a duffle coat.We're almost totally metric in Ireland except for the roads.
This is due to change soon, isn't it?
The sooner the better as far as I'm concerned.

Pineapple how dare you bring up this stupid argument here. It's bad enough having to put up with it in the Montrose while having PINTS but you shouldn't make the rest of foot.ie suffer your whining.

They seem to have been doing the roads for the last 10 years though. Half are in metric , the other half imperial.

I find it harder to understand distances in kilometres but easier to visualise temp in centigrade.

But what Irishman could say " I am an imperialist"?

Originally Posted by eoinh

I find it harder to understand distances in kilometres.

I had that problem when I was in school but started visualising it as 1,000 metre's rather than a kilometre, if that makes any sense!?

For football yards are a disaster as have to kinda convert to metres based on a yard being 90cm as inches no use...

I hate Farenheit for temps & stick with Celcius all the way.

Kilometres for roads will take some getting used to & would be easier if speedmeters were primarily km instead of stuck inside the mph reading...

Gotta be metric & can see pint, pound etc... lasting a while yet but then again a pint of milk is virtually dead with 1/2 mitres & 1 & 2 litres.

I think the yanks invented the metric system but almost completed stuck on imperial

Originally Posted by pete

I think the yanks invented the metric system but almost completed stuck on imperial

Metric was invented in France I think.

I'd use metric for nearly everything, only really heights and weights of people that I'd use imperial for.

im metric for most things except speed

i try and think in kph but its more of a second thought than a first one

i heard something about the speed limits being altered slightly (rounded up or down) for an easy life when the change does happen on all roads. eg 30mph changed to 50kph instead of 48.2kph etc.

is that right? it makes sense

as for the pub. mine is a 568ml

I use metric almost for everything. Imperial measurements are stoopid, especially when I think in metres and centimeters and the father in law in feet and inches and your in the middle of building a house

Originally Posted by yur man

as for the pub. mine is a 568ml

Could I have 568ml of Guinness please

Imperial for me Im afraid.

Height and wieght of people is still imperial measurements to me (seeing as Six feet sounds better than 1.8288 metres....

A pint will always be a pint to me also.

Don't mind speeds or milage - seems like you're going faster in kph.

I think it will be hard to beat the NASA (some Mars probe or something) feck up from the other year when 1 team were working imperial & other in metric so their calculations were a little bit off.

Would love to have seen the faces when they copped the error.

Originally Posted by Macy

A pint will always be a pint to me also.

I ordered a pint of Erdinger the weekend, but only got 500ml

Nice bit of debate going now! Makes a change with no football. Awful lot of wrong/silly points going around though...

Originally Posted by Peadar

Metric makes sense!

Originally Posted by Macy

Imperial measurements are stoopid

Originally Posted by pete

Gotta be metric

Why? I hate these "arguments" - "Imperial is wrong because I can't work in it". At least have a (proper!) reason!

Originally Posted by Peadar

People talk yards in football all the time and I can never visualise the distance...We're almost totally metric in Ireland except for the roads.

Funny you pick the imperial measurement closest the equivalent metric measurement! You can visualise a metre, but not a yard? Sure they're practically the same! Hold your hand out. Your fingertips are a yard away from your face. Simple, isn't it?

We're no-where near going metric in Ireland. Particularly outside the Pale, butchers, dairies and greengrocers sell by the pound, many roadsigns are in miles, plumbers and repairmen work in feet and inches and buy 2 by 4s, babies are born weighing 8lb 7oz, people cook recipes using fluid ounces and tablespoons, people drink pints and shots, normal body temperature is 98.6F...

Originally Posted by eoinh

But what Irishman could say " I am an imperialist"?

I think the "imperial" refers to the Romans, not the Brits. The imperial system dates back that far at least (some of it - like the foot and the inch - go back to pre-history), which is why the abbreviation for pound is lb (libra), ounce is oz (onza) and pounds shiling and pence is £sd (librae, sisterci, denarii). Unfortunate name though, in the circumstances...

Originally Posted by Peadar

I...started visualising it (a kilometre) as 1,000 metres

How did you do that? How did you visualise exactly 1000 end-to-end? Are you sure there weren't only 973? Or 1018? Even the FF-er (I think? Don't bother with the political threads!) can see the absurdity in that!

Most people visualise a distance in terms of a common journey - like a mile being down the shops and back. It's silly to ask them to change the habit of a lifetime on a whim.

Originally Posted by pete

For football yards are a disaster as have to kinda convert to metres based on a yard being 90cm as inches no use...

But football was drawn up under the yard, so it's the metre that's the disaster! UEFA in particular often refer to the wall having to be back 9.15 metres - that's just stupid.

It was the French who invented the metric system - the Yanks have pretty much given up on metric. There was a lot of opposition to it when it came in, I think, and the imperial system still lingers there as far as I know - a pound (livre) is slang for 500g, a half-litre in Denmark is called a pintje (pint) and in Holland apparently, the standard length of timber has changed from a metre to 120cm (or 4 foot) for convenience...

The NASA thing was a collaboration between the Yanks and the Brits, I think. Yanks used imperial, Brits used metric, so it screwed up.

Originally Posted by pineapple stu

the Yanks have pretty much given up on metric.

They also use 16 fl.oz for a pint whereas we use 20 fl.oz. 5 US Gallons = 4 'Imperial' Gallons
It can lead to confusion for me ( I homebrew, and often use US recipes ), so now I convert everything to metric for simplicity.

Most other stuff, I use Imperial, with the exception of small measurements (in work: mm, cm etc.)

Originally Posted by noby

They also use 16 fl.oz for a pint whereas we use 20 fl.oz. 5 US Gallons = 4 'Imperial' Gallons

Aye, the Yanks have slightly different measurements in places. That was the big problem with the imperial system - France, Germany, Switzerland, Ireland, England, Scotland, etc., etc. would all have slightly different definitions of "foot" or "inch", until the English came along and standardised everything (probably why the system is associated with them). Course, leave it to the Yanks to be awkward!

The yanks don't use imperial they use, and yes being Americans they would use a stupid name, American imperial. A pint is 454ml (approx) is the most obvious difference I can think of.

I am completely fed up of not being able to measure anything in the States. Almost every measurement they have is different to what I'm used to. I have no idea about Farenheit, Fluid ouces, pounds (lbs), yards, gallons, square feet, etc.

About the only one I'm familiar with is mph and miles, but even then I prefer km.

It also really annoys me that the Brits and the Yanks are the only countries in the developed world that persist with imperial units on a widespread basis.

And we're not going to start asking for 568ml of Guinness, or saying that we're 1.815682 m tall (do we currently say that we're 5 feet 10 inches and 3 sixteenths of an inch tall ???) I'm content to know that I'm 1m77, I don't need it to five decimal places for it to be a useful reference for me.

I also like to use the 24hr clock in certain situations (like organising itineraries), and I am truly astounded by how baffled Americans get when they confront it.

Originally Posted by pineapple stu

Funny you pick the imperial measurement closest the equivalent metric measurement! You can visualise a metre, but not a yard? Sure they're practically the same! Hold your hand out. Your fingertips are a yard away from your face. Simple, isn't it?

I never learned what a yard was.

Originally Posted by pineapple stu

We're no-where near going metric in Ireland. Particularly outside the Pale, butchers, dairies and greengrocers sell by the pound, many roadsigns are in miles, plumbers and repairmen work in feet and inches and buy 2 by 4s, babies are born weighing 8lb 7oz, people cook recipes using fluid ounces and tablespoons, people drink pints and shots, normal body temperature is 98.6F...

We're much more advanced outside the Pale than you Jackeens are!
My dad works in the construction industry and even though he only learned imperial in school he always uses metric in his job. As do all his colleagues.
It's the insdutry standard.

Having grown up over 320Km from the Pale I can assure you that practically everything you buy from the butcher or grocer is sold in a metric weight.
You should consider stepping outside the Pale some time to see how the Irish really live.

Every baby's weight is recorded in metric as well as imperial.

You're a crusty student who lives on Pot Noodles, what do you know about cooking and recipies? I've two Chef's in the family and they dispute your point.
People drink pints because the pint is considered a national institution.
All spirits are measured in ml.

The next time you see roadworks and there's markings sprayed onto the road you'll see that the unit used is also metric.

Originally Posted by pineapple stu

How did you do that? How did you visualise exactly 1000 end-to-end?

You're just being plain moronic now.
I know what a metre looks like so I can visualise 1,000 of them just in the same way that someone like you tries to visualise what a mile looks like.
The old saying, "A country mile" springs to mind.
Want to have a discussion about how accurate someone thinking in imperial is over someone who thinks in metric? You've too much time on your hands.