Is US the only one with English system left? 3

[Andrzejek]

Since this is an Overcoming Obstacles Getting My Work Done Forum, I would like to address one ‘obstacle’ from my work and get some information from others.

Where I work – state agency in the middle of USA – we mostly use English system of measuring stuff, with all the feet, inches, miles, ounces, pounds, degrees Fahrenheit and all of the nightmare of all the weird and tough to remember re-calculation formulas. We also use metric system, but in very, very limited way.

And here is my question:
Are there any other places in the world where people still suffer by using the measure of a king’s foot, or the distance from the middle of king’s nose to his hand (for a yard) as a unit of distance? Just because you may drive on the left side of the road does not mean you use English system in your every day life or at work, right?

We are already (almost) 10 years into the XXI century and I would like to know if USA is the only country our there in the world stuck with English system? Do people in England moved over to metric system?


Have fun.

---- Andy

 

[kmcferrin]

Funny...it looks just as unappetizing over there as it does over here.

What's that little muffin-looking thing in the bottom-right corner? That doesn't look too bad.

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[Annihilannic]

It's one of these:

http://www.mcdonalds.com.mt/mcdonalds/content.aspx?id=77522

While in France I enjoyed the "Croque McDo", their take on a croque monsieur (toasted ham and cheese sandwich) using a squashed and toasted junior burger roll for the bread.

Annihilannic.

 

[iolair]

Here in Finland, we're metric.

Iolair MacWalter
Network Engineer

 

[Annihilannic]

My bus goes past a local church which has a sign they change from week to week... this week it is "Go Metric - Obey the 10 Commandments".

Annihilannic.

 

[Welshbird]

Over here (UK) we have a mixture. Road signs in miles - food in kg. Whilst I can translate and know that a quarter pound of cheese from the deli counter is 100g, I can visualise 1/4lb but not 100g.

Daft innit.

Fee

"The cure for anything is salt water – sweat, tears, or the sea." Isak Dinesen

 

[gbaughma]

How about:

"Go Binary. Obey the 1010 Commandments."



I still like:
"Fight apathy! Or not."



Just my 2¢

"What the captain doesn't realize is that we've secretly replaced his Dilithium Crystals with new Folger's Crystals."

--Greg

http://parallel.tzo.com

 

[Annihilannic]

:-D

Annihilannic.

 

[PaulBricker]

"Go Binary. Obey the 1010 Commandments."

Priceless

Paul

 

[MasterRacker]

So when someone says "my new SAN has a boatload of space", do you have to know if it's an English boatlod or metric boatload? Does it matter?

Jeff
[small][purple]It's never too early to begin preparing for [/purple]International Talk Like a Pirate Day
"The software I buy sucks, The software I write sucks. It's time to give up and have a beer..." - Me[/small]

 

[ascotta]

Here in Australia we have antipopdean metric.

Kays and Klicks.
Mils
Dollars and cents. But not single cents. Bunches of fives surprisingly.

We still however use Acres and Hectares. Which is quite interesting. I either live on 5 Acres or 1.25 Hectares. I believe. To be quite honest with the 48 inches of rain we have had in the last three months I am sure I have spent 70 bucks on a gollons of petrol for my lawn mower, and my 24,000 gallons of tank water taste just blooming marvelous, and fit nicely into our litre water bottles.

And please spare me from anything the French ever invented.

[blue] A perspective from the other side!![/blue]

Cheers
Scott

 

[Annihilannic]

I bet you'd miss their parachute just after you'd leaped out of that flaming airplane. Actually... no... you wouldn't have an airplane to leap out of, if this is to be believed:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_inventions_and_discoveries

Annihilannic.

 

[kjv1611]

Annihilannic,

Maybe I'm missing something, but I didn't see anything odd or different in that link. It lists inventions attributed to France, and there is the parachute listed... but maybe I'm just missing something?

 

[Annihilannic]

And please spare me from anything the French ever invented.

I was just pointing out that he may actually miss some things that the French invented.

Annihilannic.

 

[ascotta]

Yes but would the parachute deploy, or just spit the dummy.

[blue] A perspective from the other side!![/blue]

Cheers
Scott

 

[strongm]

>I bet you'd miss their parachute

Surely the parachute was originally invented in Renaissance Italy? The French just stole the idea ...

As for that wiki page ...

This article's factual accuracy is disputed

Furthermore, the French claim to 'inventing' the aircraft relies, I believe, on accepting that a glider dragged by a horse counts. But if we accept that a glider can claim to be the origin of modern aircraft, then the French were beaten even in that by the British in the shape of Sir George Cayley.

So I think ascotta will be safe ;-)

 

[kjv1611]

But even at that, you still have to go back to Leonardo Da Vinci, right? With his various concepts and ideas - whether drawn or attempted to build, the idea was already there.. maybe.

 

[CajunCenturion]

The idea of flight can be traced back to at least the ancient Greeks and Chinese. Man was thinking about ways to fly as evidenced in the myth of Icarus.

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[ascotta]

He could have used a parachute too by the sounds of it.

[blue] A perspective from the other side!![/blue]

Cheers
Scott

 

[GwydionM]

Imperial units were defined in the British Weights and Measures Act of 1824, and applied to the whole British Empire, not just England. They were based on older systems, of varied origins. Usually though it was the typical English version that was used.

Metric became the global standard outside of the British Empire and outside of the USA, which mostly adopted those units.

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An old man who lives in the UK