Should the US get off the pot and go metric?

fuzzybuddy

fuzzybuddy

SF VIP
Location
The Sticks, Northeast PA.
In another thread there was a discussion of the metric system. I'm tired of trying to convert meters to feet, and who knows how big a kilometer is. Outside of the US, it's a metric world. And yes, we've had this discussion before. But isn't it time we ditch the 16th Century measures, so we can understand what the rest of the world is using?
 

Probably not that easy... have to realize that everyone would need to *learn* the whole new system flawlessly and that's a lot more than taking a few seconds to open a conversion website. It would most likely take a while to actually learn it to the point of automatically converting everything in our heads. Personally I'd rather just click on that conversion website.
 
CallMeKate said:
Probably not that easy... have to realize that everyone would need to *learn* the whole new system flawlessly and that's a lot more than taking a few seconds to open a conversion website. It would most likely take a while to actually learn it to the point of automatically converting everything in our heads. Personally I'd rather just click on that conversation website.
Click to expand...
We all had to learn it in the UK ... and we had to learn it long before the internet.... it's not as hard as you think. It's much easier to convert in 10's than it is in 12's..

However I still convert temperature from celcius to Fahrenheit in my head..
 

Last edited:
CallMeKate said:
Probably not that easy... have to realize that everyone would need to *learn* the whole new system flawlessly and that's a lot more than taking a few seconds to open a conversion website. It would most likely take a while to actually learn it to the point of automatically converting everything in our heads. Personally I'd rather just click on that conversion website.
Click to expand...
We all had to learn it in 1970 when Canada became metric. Nobody has to learn it flawlessly. It does take a while to learn it. Your time is no more important than anybody else’s time.
 
hollydolly said:
We all had to learn itin the UK ... and we had to learn it long before the internet.... it's not as hard as you think. It's much easier to convert in 10's than it is in 12's..
Click to expand...
Thanks, Holly... glad to hear it's not as hard as I think. I've gotten so used to hitting the conversion website that learning a whole new system doesn't appeal to me personally. :giggle:
 
PeppermintPatty said:
We all had to learn it in 1970 when Canada became metric. Nobody has to learn it flawlessly. It does take a while to learn it. Your time is no more important than anybody else’s time.
Click to expand...
Thanks, Patty.... what I meant by "flawlessly" was that there are some things that would not allow errors if it's not learned properly (recipes, medications, etc.), so it would need to be fully understood... I guess that's kind of "flawless."
 
In professions such as science and manufacturing where use of the metric system matters on an international stage, we have already converted .

Most Americans are perfectly content with our current system. The last time there was a big push to convert (1970's as I recall) Detroit started producing vehicles with speedometers showing both MPH and kilometers. It was a big yawn and then simply faded away.
 
CallMeKate said:
Thanks, Patty.... what I meant by "flawlessly" was that there are some things that would not allow errors if it's not learned properly (recipes, medications, etc.), so it would need to be fully understood... I guess that's kind of "flawless."
Click to expand...
True but you can look it up. We started the metric system in 1970. Cars would start incorporating the metric system to make it easier . For a while cars here had both metric and standard conversions. In 1985 everything made had metric conversion so it took 15 years. It is a much easily conversion to deal with in the long run.
 
CallMeKate said:
Thanks, Holly... glad to hear it's not as hard as I think. I've gotten so used to hitting the conversion website that learning a whole new system doesn't appeal to me personally. :giggle:
Click to expand...
You;d be surprised Kate... because when we converted everything was displayed in both Imperial and metric side by side, until we got used to it...

The money was hardest for us.. because were changing from 240 pennies in a £... to 100 pence in a pound.. and 10 in 2 shillings which became 10 pence ( coin) ... and equally our actual coinage changed as well... so not only did we have to get used to metric 10's we had to get used to new coinage.. 1p...10p... etc.. instead of 1 old penny.. 2 shillings, 2/6d etc.. which was 12 to the coin... so it was actually the hardest on us in the UK of most if not all countries.. and of course we had to deal with Kilo, and grams ..when we were used to ounces and pounds ...

..because your coinage is already metric in its basic unit.. you wouldn't have those problems.. so instead you would just learn that 3 feet 3 inches in a metre.. instead of a yard which is 3 feet.. and a kilo is approx 2 pounds in weight... but again.. the metric and imperial sizes would be displayed side by side for about 5 years...as it was here....you wouldn't have to worry about the money
 
Last edited:
Llynn said:
In professions such as science and manufacturing where use of the metric system matters on an international stage, we have already converted .

Most Americans are perfectly content with our current system. The last time there was a big push to convert (1970's as I recall) Detroit started producing vehicles with speedometers showing both MPH and kilometers. It was a big yawn and then simply faded away.
Click to expand...
we were very content with ours.. as was just about every country that had to change... but we had to if we were going to be able to compete on an even keel with the rest of Europe, but nobody wanted to, we were really dragged kicking and screaming...

... but really America needs to change ...this another reason your banking system is far behind the rest of the western world..
 
I think back to a documentary I saw about NASA. I now forget what spacecraft it was, but I think it was sent to mars. Instead of approaching Mars then orbiting, it crashed onto the surface of Mars. One team was using metric units, while another team interpreted them as imperial units.

It might have sparked an anecdote about one scientific department sending data to another in metric units. Then the receiving department sending it back and asking for it in imperial units. The data being resubmitted, allegedly -- speed in number of furlongs per fortnight.
 
fuzzybuddy said:
In another thread there was a discussion of the metric system. I'm tired of trying to convert meters to feet, and who knows how big a kilometer is. Outside of the US, it's a metric world. And yes, we've had this discussion before. But isn't it time we ditch the 16th Century measures, so we can understand what the rest of the world is using?
Click to expand...
I have thought for decades that the US should convert to the metric system. I guess science and medical fields use it, but that's not enough. I like to use metric measurements for baking.

My 6th grade teacher said the US would convert to the metric system within a couple of years. Golly, that was over a half century ago.

She also said we would have flying cars and groceries would be delivered directly into our kitchens via tunnels. So there's that.
 
HELL NO!!!!! I went to school in the United States. I will always use the weights and measures that I learned in school Not that metric crap. I get ticked off when I am listening to a wild life show that takes place in a zoo in the U.S. and I hear the word gram instead of ounce. Or if I hear meters instead of feet. Stones instead of pounds. If something is 140 pounds, say 140 pounds and not 10 stone. If something is 10 meters down in the water, I want to hear 30 feet. If a small animal weighs about 20 grams, I want to hear about 7 ounces.
 
Jules said:
There’s nothing to convert. A dollar has 100 pennies or ten dimes, etc.
Click to expand...
exactly that's my point. You would have a lot easier time than us because your money doesn't have be converted nor would your coins change. Your only thing would be to learn weight & measures.. ie Kilos' and grams instead of pounds and ounces.. centimetres and metres instead of inches and feet... however again.. they all work in 10's.. not 12's like now you have 12 inches in a foot.. and 36 inches (3 feet) in a yard.. whereas if you change you will have 10 millimetres = 1 centimetre. 100 cm's = 1 metre......all in 10's and hundreds like you've been doing with your money all your life...
 
Last edited:
Paladin1950 said:
HELL NO!!!!! I went to school in the United States. I will always use the weights and measures that I learned in school Not that metric crap. I get ticked off when I am listening to a wild life show that takes place in a zoo in the U.S. and I hear the word gram instead of ounce. Or if I hear meters instead of feet. Stones instead of pounds. If something is 140 pounds, say 140 pounds and not 10 stone. If something is 10 meters down in the water, I want to hear 30 feet. If a small animal weighs about 20 grams, I want to hear about 7 ounces.
Click to expand...
Good luck with that when you go travelling outside the US.
 
hollydolly said:
We all had to learn it in the UK ... and we had to learn it long before the internet.... it's not as hard as you think. It's much easier to convert in 10's than it is in 12's..

However I still convert temperature from celcius to Fahrenheit in my head..
Click to expand...
When our currency went metric, there was something of a turmoil depending on which generation you were. To save anyone looking it up, prior to February 1971, the UK had the pounds, shillings and pence. (£:s:d). One pound was made up of 240 pence, with 12 pence to the shilling and 20 shillings to the pound. And just to confuse you further, we had the Guinea, a term still used in certain circles such as horse racing to describe values equivalent to one pound and one shilling.
All that changed on February 15th 1971 when our currency went simply pounds and pence. One hundred pennies to the pound.

We love doing things by halves here in the UK. When Britain announced its intention to adopt the metric system in 1965, it was originally planned that road conversion would take place in 1973. However, following the change of government in 1970, the conversion programme was put on indefinite hold and has never been re-instated. Our road signs show distances in miles.

Imperial units, units of measurement of the British Imperial System, the traditional system of weights and measures used officially in Great Britain from 1824 until the adoption of the metric system beginning in 1965. The United States Customary System of weights and measures is derived from the British Imperial System.

You can go metric, but in my will I have requested burial, six feet under, but if they do cremate me, just make sure the dial is on Fahrenheit.
 
Only thing I have noticed is Hardened Metric fasteners seem to be better over time And they still rust in and need WD40 & torch to get loose. Red Loctite really seized them up. Most Football Defensive coaches would have an erection if the game went to 100 Meters.

Every 1st down would be nearly a yard longer.

Most of the Machinery has metric parts. Metric Micrometers are easy to buy to measure the parts.

34 C. Is dang hot F.
 

Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.

Back
Top