Isn't it about time the US joined the world's metric system?

C50 said:
I had to take a metric math class back in 1975, because that was going to be the new US system, didn't happen. After highschool I went into the machining trades and spent the next forty years converting metric to imperial and imperial to metric every single day.

I am comfortable with either to tell the truth, I just wish it was one or the other. Except for currency, I like the US system of money best.
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but then the US currency is almost identical to the Euro :D
 

Mike said:
Kburra said it all, it is easy, so instead of talking about
the metric system, start talking about the "Decimal"
system, that will remind you that it is in tens, and parts
of tens then hundreds and thousands, all associated
with 10s.

Mike.
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It's not about the math itself, which is obviously easy. It's about visualizing what those measurements and terms represent. If I hear 60 mph, I know how fast that is. 60 kph, however, is meaningless until I convert it and realize that means roughly 36 mph. Same with when someone talks about weather highs of 0°C. I first think, "Wow, that's really cold!", then realize it's 32°F. So chilly but not cruelly cold like 0°F (-18°C).

I'll likely continue to think in imperial measurements for the rest of my life. The only metric measurement I visualize is 2 liters because that's the standard size of most large US soda bottles.
 
StarSong said:
It's not about the math itself, which is obviously easy. It's about visualizing what those measurements and terms represent. If I hear 60 mph, I know how fast that is. 60 kph, however, is meaningless until I convert it and realize that means roughly 36 mph. Same with when someone talks about weather highs of 0°C. I first think, "Wow, that's really cold!", then realize it's 32°F. So chilly but not cruelly cold like 0°F (-18°C).

I'll likely continue to think in imperial measurements for the rest of my life. The only metric measurement I visualize is 2 liters because that's the standard size of most large US soda bottles.
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you never do get over changing it in your head..we've been metric for over 40 years and still I change it in my head on a daily basis.

it will take a whole century to pass before everyone knows nothing but metric
 

Isn't it about time the US joined the world's metric system?​

....bans guns, creates a National Healthcare System, outlaws Nazism, the KKK and cults, censors language, minds it's own business....

Isn't it about time the US stops being the US?

No.
 
hollydolly said:
now we've left the European Union and got 'Brexit done''... there's a lot of talk about returning to Imperial weights and measures. I doubt if it would ever happen... but it does mean that merchants can now display their goods in Imperial and Metric..if they wish. However the vast majority of the public..certainly those under 50. don't understand imperial, so it seems a little pointless ..
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I would think that when boomers in the UK are gone, the desire for return of Imperial measures would die with them. I just don't see why younger Brits would want to fool with an archaic system.
 
One of the ways metrics and physics go together, which I think is really cool, is the definition of a calorie. You know? Those things you count when you're on a diet? I'll try to do this from memory.

Calorie: The amount of energy required raise the temperature of 1 cubic centimeter of water 1 degree centigrade. I learned that 61 years ago, so there could be a mistake in there. And Ah don't explain em. Ah just counts em.
 
Don M. said:
Over the years, I've had to buy sets of Metric wrenches and sockets, etc., as many of the items today use Metric nuts/bolts/screws, etc. It's a tossup today, when working on cars, etc., as to which "system" is being used.
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Yup

I've got two sets of combination wrenches and socket sets

I've almost memorized what can be used in standard in place of metric, and vice versa
.......almost

However, in regard to liquid measures, my visual is fixated on gallons/quarts/pints/ounces

But

I have 'a fifth' down pretty good
 
Warrigal said:
I just wish the Americans would give due credit to the French who devised the metric system and spell the units correctly. It's metre and litre, not meter and liter. A meter is a device for measuring something, as in light meter.
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Ok, but we have to read it, so....

Theaters used to say "Theatre" on them. Some still do.

And in the UK, would the word up there in bold be spelled Devized?
 
If you want to calculate distance from Kilometres to Miles,
it is 8 Kilometres to 5 Miles.

Take the number on the sign 120 Kilometres divide by 8
and it is = 15, multiply by 5 = 75 miles.

Do it often enough and you learn the answer, just by looking
at the number on the sign board.

Mike.
 
Warrigal said:
I just wish the Americans would give due credit to the French who devised the metric system and spell the units correctly. It's metre and litre, not meter and liter. A meter is a device for measuring something, as in light meter.
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I looked this up, saw that the Germans also spell the words meter and liter, and learned the following:

Howard Ludwig
Ph.D. in Physics, Northwestern University (Graduated 1982)Author has 2K answers and 6.1M answer views:
“Why do Americans spell metre, meter? A meter is a measuring device a metre is a distance. It is a metric system not a meteric system.”

Let’s see now, the French spell it mètre and they pronounce it more or less like MEH-truh—rather like it is spelled.

Then it went to the UK who retained the French spelling except for dropping the accent mark. Since you did not change the core spelling, why did you change the pronunciation to MEE-tuh?

When it went over to the Americans, they somewhat followed the British pronunciation but they finished the job by changing the spelling to conform to the pronunciation deviation from the French. If the pronunciation is changed, then the spelling should be changed correspondingly—the Americans did so (pronunciation MEE-ter and spelling meter), but the British did not, so the question really belongs to the British, not the Americans: Why did you change the pronunciation from the French mètre to an Anglicized mete(r) but not change the spelling to correspond to the pronunciation shift?

Now, as a followup question to the British: Whether it is spelled metre or meter, there is a letter r in there, so why do you not pronounce that r but instead say MEE-tuh, while the Americans say that r at the end of meter: MEE-terr?

Also:

Joe Devney
Linguist and WriterAuthor has 15.8K answers and 22.2M answer views3y
“A meter is a measuring device a metre is a distance.” Well, that is not true in American English, so you cannot make such a blanket assertion about the spelling.

The reason is that American lexicographer Noah Webster promoted spelling reforms starting in the late 18th century. He changed the -re ending in many words to -er, so it would match the pronunciation.

British English kept the French spelling.

So there you have it, @Warrigal. The spelling was changed to match how the word is pronounced, not to dismiss or disrespect the French origins of the metric system.
 
StarSong said:
Now, as a followup question to the British: Whether it is spelled metre or meter, there is a letter r in there, so why do you not pronounce that r but instead say MEE-tuh, while the Americans say that r at the end of meter: MEE-terr?
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Canadians say MEE-terr for metre.
 
Metric's? My Jack Daniels Old #7 comes in bottles measured in metric liters. Not enough that a few years back the earlier Black Label 90 Proof replaced the earlier Green Label 80 Proof that I shunned like The Plague always opting for my "Black Jack".

The Green Label bottle was dropped I guess?

I took up 90 Proof Black Label J.D. in 1969 whilst in Uncle Sam's Zoo. Made friends with a guy from Atlanta, Georgia who intro'd me to it.

I am a loyal "room temperature" J.D. sorta guy who just cannot understand Jack n' Coke, Jack n' Water, or Jack On The Rocks?
Adulterating it thataway might could prolly gag a vulture.

That right there is enough Metric BS for me. The only plus to metrics is that some fella's wanker size from inches to mm's looks more impressive on paper...

U.V.
 
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