You're dead right that you need to metricate fully or not at all.
We did it in Australia in 1970, when I was 14, and it worked fine, with a little patience. Now it's clear that it was one of the best things we ever did.
Of course we'll probably always retain linguistic fossils: "inching along", "penny wise but pound foolish", etc. And I think my grandfather, who was a very capable amateur carpenter, died with his beloved three foot rule at his side, whereas I shall do the same with my beloved metre rule (though it does have inches on the "other" side).
More seriously, a single measurement system for the whole world is a wonderful thing that allows so much and saves so much waste and confusion.
For years I had a sticker stuck to my workshop wall that I had peeled off a piece of plywood. I felt it represented Canada's approach to our metric conversion perfectly. The sticker listed the dimensions of the plywood as 18mm x 4' x 8'. Several decades later we are still stuck in the same idiocy...
I do a little woodworking, building cabinets for family. Getting a metric tape measure and metric ruler was a huge benefit. No more adding sixteenths and thirtyseconds, etc.
"The road signs are in miles, but you buy gas in litres."
To be fair on this point, they are gradually migrating away from miles to kilometres on road signs. They appear to be doing it primarily when road signs wear out. However, in a typical British manner some groups of people are going round and repainting the road signs back into miles. Luddites!
"Sometimes the temperatures are Fahrenheit,"
I have no idea where you got that from in all my years living in the UK I never once heard a British person use Fahrenheit for a temperature. You must've been listening to an American or someone quoting an American to hear Fahrenheit. 99% of the British population would have no idea what a Fahrenheit was!
I think the UK matrix Association is exaggerating for a fact! Everybody uses the metric system outside of school all the time so they will get plenty of practice. The imperial system is used for very specific things but in many cases it's just a naming scheme. The underline process is done in metric. For instance, if you order a yard of fabric, you will get a meter of fabric. If you order a pint in a British pub, you quite often get a metric pint which is 600 mL.
For situations whether there is someone guilty both schemes are named on for instance, food packaging.
"This could have serious consequences for road safety."
How? Could you provide an example of where road safety is compromised?
Think about this, you're a Canadian visiting the UK. I was born in the UK. I went to school in the UK. I lived in the UK for 45 years. Which of us is likely to be correct on the subject?
That newspaper (the daily mail) is renowned for sensationalist headlines. They're putting the 76 on the front page not because people use Fahrenheit but as a sort of shock amd awe type heading.
If you're actually look inside the text you will see that the primary value mentioned is 24°C. (Gosh they are really are getting hot). The average British person wouldn't be able to convert 24°C into 76°F. In the same way as most of them wouldn't know how many pennies they used to be in a shilling (12) and how many shillings they used to be in a pound (20) they also wouldn't know that there's 14 ounces in a pound without checking their phone..
When I was last there they had come up with the abomination of miles per litre, which was sometimes being used instead of miles per gallon.
It really triggers me when people mix measurement systems like that, it's when I tend to go and try and find my machete!
Another one was an equipment specification sheet which said it worked over 18,000 kilo feet of cable. Kilofeet! Somebody needs to pay for that!
Anyway Lloyd here's your chance to become a immortal! Convince some people in the UK that Canadians use kilometres per African elephant as a measurement value!
The problem is we are in close proximity to the US and our cookbooks etc which are mostly published in the US ,are imperial . Very hard to go to the grocery store to buy .438 kg (for example)and figure out just how many pounds you need stated in the recipe …
"And, explain how come clocks (putting aside sub-second timings) and calendars haven't gone to base 10 yet?"
Taking the first one, there have been some attempts to generate metric or digital clocks over time. However, they have to take into account that the second and the day are basic measurement periods. Attempting to divide a day into metric whether it's 10 101,000 or whatever simply doesn't work at all conveniently. To do so it would be necessary to redefine the second. The second is used as the basis for so many other measurements that redefining the second would be a truly astronomical problem. Consequently clocks have not been made metric or digital because the effort to do so far outweighs the benefits of doing so.
Now as to why we haven't changed the calendar! Various attempts have been made to improve the mess that the calendar currently is in. In particular towards making all months the same number of days and making calendars perpetual calendars. Perpetual means that in the case of where the 18th of July was a Saturday, the 18th of July would always be a Saturday.
There are numerous benefits to doing this. Particularly in the modern world where we use computer measurements for dating so many things. So why haven't we done it? But as with so many improvements to society is organised Religion has prevented it.
Many religions have specific feast days or ceremonies based around the calendar, Easter comes to mind as an example. If we standardise the calendar then inevitably changes to their festivals and ceremonies would be necessary.
Consequently, any time such a suggestion has made there is such a crying from them that inevitably change proponents give up.
I live in the UK and quite agree. I was at school in the 1970s when people assumed that we would go completely metric, like Australia or Ireland, but of course TPTB decided to save money as usual and not convert roadsigns - which has a knock on effect with people describing e.g. walking distances in miles. I give them km instead.
People give their weights in kg more than stone by now but describing, say, height in cm is harder to get into - not least because 5ft, 5ft 6, 6ft are so easy to visualise. As I don't drive I don't have the 'miles' mindset. And 'beer in pints' - yes, but it isn't really measured except by the glass manufacturer. The bar person pours a pint, the customer buys and drinks it. The volume doesn't actually matter.
I attended elementary school in Rockville Centre, NY, and remember when we were taught the metric system. My teacher explained that most of the world used a measurement system based on ten, and we would be joining the rest of the world soon. I'm 74.
You're dead right that you need to metricate fully or not at all.
We did it in Australia in 1970, when I was 14, and it worked fine, with a little patience. Now it's clear that it was one of the best things we ever did.
Of course we'll probably always retain linguistic fossils: "inching along", "penny wise but pound foolish", etc. And I think my grandfather, who was a very capable amateur carpenter, died with his beloved three foot rule at his side, whereas I shall do the same with my beloved metre rule (though it does have inches on the "other" side).
More seriously, a single measurement system for the whole world is a wonderful thing that allows so much and saves so much waste and confusion.
For years I had a sticker stuck to my workshop wall that I had peeled off a piece of plywood. I felt it represented Canada's approach to our metric conversion perfectly. The sticker listed the dimensions of the plywood as 18mm x 4' x 8'. Several decades later we are still stuck in the same idiocy...
Heh!
I do a little woodworking, building cabinets for family. Getting a metric tape measure and metric ruler was a huge benefit. No more adding sixteenths and thirtyseconds, etc.
"The road signs are in miles, but you buy gas in litres."
To be fair on this point, they are gradually migrating away from miles to kilometres on road signs. They appear to be doing it primarily when road signs wear out. However, in a typical British manner some groups of people are going round and repainting the road signs back into miles. Luddites!
"Sometimes the temperatures are Fahrenheit,"
I have no idea where you got that from in all my years living in the UK I never once heard a British person use Fahrenheit for a temperature. You must've been listening to an American or someone quoting an American to hear Fahrenheit. 99% of the British population would have no idea what a Fahrenheit was!
I think the UK matrix Association is exaggerating for a fact! Everybody uses the metric system outside of school all the time so they will get plenty of practice. The imperial system is used for very specific things but in many cases it's just a naming scheme. The underline process is done in metric. For instance, if you order a yard of fabric, you will get a meter of fabric. If you order a pint in a British pub, you quite often get a metric pint which is 600 mL.
For situations whether there is someone guilty both schemes are named on for instance, food packaging.
"This could have serious consequences for road safety."
How? Could you provide an example of where road safety is compromised?
There are often headlines I have seen whenever it is hot. Random sample found in two seconds https://www.accuweather.com/en/weather-forecasts/uk-breaks-all-time-record-high-as-intense-heat-sends-temps-past-100-f/1218378
Oh come on be serious!
Thats an americian weather site - they are converting British values for the americian audience!
The British use Celsius for everything
Lets look at a realistic example
https://www.bbc.com/weather/2643743
https://www.tomorrowspapers.co.uk/daily-mail-front-page-2021-03-27/
You've chosen a strange hill to die on Lloyd.
Think about this, you're a Canadian visiting the UK. I was born in the UK. I went to school in the UK. I lived in the UK for 45 years. Which of us is likely to be correct on the subject?
That newspaper (the daily mail) is renowned for sensationalist headlines. They're putting the 76 on the front page not because people use Fahrenheit but as a sort of shock amd awe type heading.
If you're actually look inside the text you will see that the primary value mentioned is 24°C. (Gosh they are really are getting hot). The average British person wouldn't be able to convert 24°C into 76°F. In the same way as most of them wouldn't know how many pennies they used to be in a shilling (12) and how many shillings they used to be in a pound (20) they also wouldn't know that there's 14 ounces in a pound without checking their phone..
I am now just having fun Bob, looking for them. But you cannot deny the miles and MPH!
When I was last there they had come up with the abomination of miles per litre, which was sometimes being used instead of miles per gallon.
It really triggers me when people mix measurement systems like that, it's when I tend to go and try and find my machete!
Another one was an equipment specification sheet which said it worked over 18,000 kilo feet of cable. Kilofeet! Somebody needs to pay for that!
Anyway Lloyd here's your chance to become a immortal! Convince some people in the UK that Canadians use kilometres per African elephant as a measurement value!
https://weather.metoffice.gov.uk/forecast/uk
https://www.netweather.tv/weather-forecasts/uk/10-day
https://www.accuweather.com/en/gb/united-kingdom-weather
All C not a F in sight
Find a cooker shop - what is the dial on a oven calibrated in!
The idea that the British use F for anything is such a bizarre idea!
The problem is we are in close proximity to the US and our cookbooks etc which are mostly published in the US ,are imperial . Very hard to go to the grocery store to buy .438 kg (for example)and figure out just how many pounds you need stated in the recipe …
In Canada, as long as the lumber and steel is made to Imperial measure, and food and recipes use the old system, we will continue this charabia.
What this post really shows is how poor math education is in teaching how to do simple calculations.
And, explain how come clocks (putting aside sub-second timings) and calendars haven't gone to base 10 yet?
"And, explain how come clocks (putting aside sub-second timings) and calendars haven't gone to base 10 yet?"
Taking the first one, there have been some attempts to generate metric or digital clocks over time. However, they have to take into account that the second and the day are basic measurement periods. Attempting to divide a day into metric whether it's 10 101,000 or whatever simply doesn't work at all conveniently. To do so it would be necessary to redefine the second. The second is used as the basis for so many other measurements that redefining the second would be a truly astronomical problem. Consequently clocks have not been made metric or digital because the effort to do so far outweighs the benefits of doing so.
Now as to why we haven't changed the calendar! Various attempts have been made to improve the mess that the calendar currently is in. In particular towards making all months the same number of days and making calendars perpetual calendars. Perpetual means that in the case of where the 18th of July was a Saturday, the 18th of July would always be a Saturday.
There are numerous benefits to doing this. Particularly in the modern world where we use computer measurements for dating so many things. So why haven't we done it? But as with so many improvements to society is organised Religion has prevented it.
Many religions have specific feast days or ceremonies based around the calendar, Easter comes to mind as an example. If we standardise the calendar then inevitably changes to their festivals and ceremonies would be necessary.
Consequently, any time such a suggestion has made there is such a crying from them that inevitably change proponents give up.
I live in the UK and quite agree. I was at school in the 1970s when people assumed that we would go completely metric, like Australia or Ireland, but of course TPTB decided to save money as usual and not convert roadsigns - which has a knock on effect with people describing e.g. walking distances in miles. I give them km instead.
People give their weights in kg more than stone by now but describing, say, height in cm is harder to get into - not least because 5ft, 5ft 6, 6ft are so easy to visualise. As I don't drive I don't have the 'miles' mindset. And 'beer in pints' - yes, but it isn't really measured except by the glass manufacturer. The bar person pours a pint, the customer buys and drinks it. The volume doesn't actually matter.
I use metric wherever possible.
The question is: when are we going to adopt this system??!
I attended elementary school in Rockville Centre, NY, and remember when we were taught the metric system. My teacher explained that most of the world used a measurement system based on ten, and we would be joining the rest of the world soon. I'm 74.