I hate imperial measurements!

[PennyArcade]

Oh god, how I hate imperial measurements! It is a useless measurement system when the metric system is clearly better.

Couple examples:

- In science, it would be insane using imperial measurements. Any measurement you wanted to convert into a smaller unit would have different values one would have to multiply by. Metric? you just go and extra " x 10^y" and you're basically done.

- At work, we manufacture instruments and use many fasteners (screws) and machine custom pieces. I'll take a metric hex socket screw and try to figure out which key to use. 3mm too big? ok, go with a 2.5mm key. ahhh... good. With imperial, I grab a 17/32 key which is too big. What's smaller? I have to convert that stupid fraction into a decimal and then take another key, look at it, then figure out another fraction to see if it is smaller. WTF is up with that?! The Metric keys are in decimals which makes much more sense.

And WHY do we still have Imperial? USA. Damn the American ancestors, sticking to the imperial measurements. You have a revolution against your British oppressors, yet you still keep their stupid measurements. Almost no one in the rest of the world uses the obviously inferior measuring technique... get with the times and use the right one.

long live metric!!!

[Talamasca]

I agree but that being said, I still prefer to use pounds when referring to weight and feet/inches when referring to height.

[steve.m]

http://i152.exs.cx/img152/1458/204lk.jpg

[Headhunter]

^ Heh, classic.

I agree but that being said, I still prefer to use pounds when referring to weight and feet/inches when referring to height.
Those should be the only 2...

[canabiz]

I second this

Freaken American customer asked me how much is gas up here these days. I told him it's about 80 cents/litre

He then asked me how many litres in a gallon, I was like 'Doh' why do i have to know and why do i have to care to know ?

He then asked OK how much does it cost you to fill up a tank and that question certainly made more sense :)

[PennyArcade]

I agree but that being said, I still prefer to use pounds when referring to weight and feet/inches when referring to height.

In europe and asia (from my experience), they use cm and kg and they do NOT know how much pounds and inches really are.

It is another effect living beside the elephant.

[Jim123]

He then asked me how many litres in a gallon, I was like 'Doh' why do i have to know and why do i have to care to know ?At that point you should ask if he means US gallons (3.785412 litres/US gallon) or Imperial gallons (4.54609 litres/Imperial gallon).

Then give him the answer in US hogsheads (63 US gallons = 1 US hogshead). When he looks confused, tell him that you thought he understood his measurement system. Then give him the answer in fluid ounces (1 fl. oz. = 0.02957 litres) and ask him to convert that to US gallons. :twisted:

[JimG]

Interestingly, several imperial units are defined by metic units. Like 1 pound (lb) == 453.592 37 grams (g). They're not just equal, the pound is defined in grams, so if the definition of a gram changes, so does the definition of a pound. That makes the imperial system, the metric's bi***.

Jim

[Talamasca]

In europe and asia (from my experience), they use cm and kg and they do NOT know how much pounds and inches really are.

It is another effect living beside the elephant.

True but in the UK at least, road distances are still measured in miles.

[terribly]

It's odd reading UK car magazines - power ratings are in horsepower, torque is in Nm.

And - yes. Nothing cheeses me off more than imperial (minus, as the one poster mentioned, lbs and feet/inches).

I'm in engineering - If you gave me questions that weren't in metric, I think I'd have some trouble working them out. I wouldn't even know whether or not the final units I got were right :p

[NDman]

I have no problem with imperials for most of the daily stuff. I go by pounds on weight, most of the time. Grocery, they go by pound too, which is what I'm used to. When people ask me how tall I am, I tell them 6' even, not in cm. A lot of you are probably the same. You just don't realize how much imperial units you actually deal with everyday. Of coruse there's some more obscure ones then that's when it gets crazy.

[synaptech]

True but in the UK at least, road distances are still measured in miles.

Well I can't speak for all of UK, but Ireland has both... except of course they don't tell you which they're using km or mi :cheesygri hehehe, but pretty quick you see the old signs are in miles and the new in km

[Ripcat]

Oh god, how I hate imperial measurements! It is a useless measurement system when the metric system is clearly better.

- At work, we manufacture instruments and use many fasteners (screws) and machine custom pieces. I'll take a metric hex socket screw and try to figure out which key to use. 3mm too big? ok, go with a 2.5mm key. ahhh... good. With imperial, I grab a 17/32 key which is too big. What's smaller? I have to convert that stupid fraction into a decimal and then take another key, look at it, then figure out another fraction to see if it is smaller. WTF is up with that?! The Metric keys are in decimals which makes much more sense.

long live metric!!!

I agree that metric is a much better system.

I just dont understand your trouble with the allen wrenches. Sometimes it is too hard the read the size anyways. If I grab the wrong size I just slip it back in the handy carry case and grab the next size which is right beside the one I just put back. Doesnt matter whether they are Imperial or metric.

[Mint]

Another thumbs up for metric.

the equivalent of "grams" in imperial is a "slug".
What's a "slug"? Exactly! So messed up.

[webdoctors]

i hate imperial, even the how tall are you, 6 ft stuff, its annoying, i prefer cms

[AnimeEd]

Another thumbs up for metric.

the equivalent of "grams" in imperial is a "slug".
What's a "slug"? Exactly! So messed up.
actually it's kilograms to slugs
kg is the SI unit
You need to use slugs instead of pounds because pounds are a force unit (newtons to pounds). However pounds are usually confused with mass, so sometimes pounds are denoted as lbf which stands for pounds force.

[Menace]

The point is, it isn't you like or dislike Imperial system, you don't change system as will. If you have the Imperial system, you stick with it. I also hate some countries change their city name. Example, "Peking" to "Beijian", "Bombay" to "Mumba"...etc

[PennyArcade]

I agree that metric is a much better system.

I just dont understand your trouble with the allen wrenches. Sometimes it is too hard the read the size anyways. If I grab the wrong size I just slip it back in the handy carry case and grab the next size which is right beside the one I just put back. Doesnt matter whether they are Imperial or metric.

When your plant has m2-m5 screws, buttonhead/flat, cap, set and then a whole other set of #1-70 - 1/4-20 buttonhead/flat, cap, set, then it gets really annoying finding the right driver.

It is partly the company's fault for not sticking to either imperial or metric in the first place.

We have keys everywhere in the plant. Unorganized. That in itself isn't the problem. What IS the problem with imperial keys is that it is difficult to determine if one key is bigger than the other (assuming that I have two keys that are close in size).

[Gevaltech]

A lot of this is an age thing. People who went to school in my ggengeneration are just more comfortable with Imperial. Sure it's easier to do metric for calculations and such, but in everyday usage I still just don't get it. I just know that an 85 degree day is hot, I ask about mileage on a car (what terminology do you use?), square footage of an apartment/house, height and weight is just a nobrainer, and so many expressions that we use ("within inches of a collision", "I can see for miles", "30 acre spread", etc. etc.) just plain sound a hell of a lot better and more poetic.

[CodecX81]

For all your measurement woes :)

http://www.convert-me.com

[Spazmogen]

For all your measurement woes :)

http://www.convert-me.com

Excellent site.

Lee Valley Tools (http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.aspx?c=1&p=30039&cat=1,43513,43556) also makes a great little book with every conversion you could ever need. Its the black one on the left.

Here's one for you: golf is in YARDS. Could you handle it in meters?

When I run, its measuered in miles, not KM. People actually complained at the gym when a treadmill was put in metric mode. I was one of them. The weights are in pounds, but the scale is dual mode metric/imperial...

Working with Imperial measurements, while living in a metric country, is Canadian. I am not aware of any other country that does it as much as we do.

[Newt]

Metric is the more practical, but I cannot do body measurements with metric.
I must have lbs, and Ft' Inch"

[Sgt_Strider]

lol I now know my exact height in centimetres...172.5cm to be exact.

How much do I weight in kilograms/grams when I weight 125 lbs? Before kilograms is grams right?

[Amourek]

Imperial measurement persists because of familiarity, tradition, and the lack of desire of Imperial-system countries/people to switch. If America turned metric over night 75% of the people would be completely dumb-founded.

[PennyArcade]

How about Fahrenheit and Celcius?

Most countries use Celcius, yet Americans still use Fahrenheit. See this excerpt:

Fahrenheit sought to create a practical temperature scale in which 0 corresponded with the coldest temperature normally encountered in Western Europe and 100 corresponded to the hottest temperature. Fahrenheit initially created a temperature scale in which 0 represented the temperature of a salt and ice mixture (at about 255 K), 30 represented the freezing point of water (273.15 K), and 90 representing the mean human body temperature (about 310 K). Fahrenheit later adjusted his temperature scale so that 32 represented the freezing point of water and 212 represented the boiling point of water (373.15 K). The Fahrenheit temperature scale is still used today in the United States and other backward places.

hehe backward...

[hyperion]

Strongly agree. I use metric in everything including weight, height, temperature.

[rilhouse]

yah i agree it's stupid. BUT if you ever do work in the states you need to know the conversions (just look up).

reminds me of my fluid mechanics class where the prof. (most hated in engg dept.) would always give imperial units or a mix with SI in all assignments and midterm exam just to make you do extra work. :mad:

[Talamasca]

How about Fahrenheit and Celcius?

I'll take Celsius but most scientists use the more precise Kelvin scale.

[Spent]

IMPERIAL RULES

There is virtually nothing good about the metric system.
EVERYTHING ABOUT METRIC SUCKS BIG TIME
:mad:
How can anyone who lives in Canada like metric.???????????????
With stupid metric we have damn negative temperatures
steady for 7-8 months.
What sounds better in the dead of winter 5 above or
FLIPPING MINUS 14
I DON'T EVEN WANT TO GO OUTSIDE WHEN I HEAR THAT
Same thing in the summer 75,76,77,78.79
sounds so much better than 24 above
Metric is JUST one more way the government/gas stations
rips us off using liters instead of gallons
TALK ABOUT STUPID!!
What's better putting 12 gallons in or 48 liters
NO FARKING CONTEST!!!! metric BLOWS

[Audiogenic]

It doesn't matter that the metric system became official in Canada in 1971.

At the end of the day, as long as we are this close to the US, the Imperial system is here to stay.

[porphyra]

The point is, it isn't you like or dislike Imperial system, you don't change system as will. If you have the Imperial system, you stick with it. I also hate some countries change their city name. Example, "Peking" to "Beijian", "Bombay" to "Mumba"...etc

I fail to see the connection? Metric is scientific and hence the switch. Imperial is the remanant of the British empire and everyone is trying to purge the memory.

Hence the name change from Bombay to Mumbai (not Mumba). Mumbai is the name as it always was. Bombay was what the Brits called it. Brits are gone, their name is gone, and their system is gone...

The sun has set on the empire that once was..

[Spent]

they said the americans were going to adopt it
BS
Americans saw it on some road signs and said NO WAY!! :twisted:
That's one of our BIG PROBLEMS
most of us are in need of a real backbone.
Americans don't put up with crap like we do from the clowns in charge. :mad: :mad:

[Spent]

How about Fahrenheit and Celcius?

I fail to see the connection? Metric is scientific and hence the switch. Imperial is the remanant of the British empire and everyone is trying to purge the memory.



Speaking of backward - you clowns can't even spell
celsius
remnants

Metric is scientific and hence the switch
THIS STATEMENT DOESN'T EVEN MAKE SENSE, FOOL

p.s. at least the British empire had some class

[Spent]

There is nothing at all backward about the imperial system.
It was designed for mankind
Metric was created for mathematicians and scientists
NOT everyday living.

[divx]

NOT everyday living.


then tell me how is imperial measurement superior than metric? I can learn metric system in lesser than time imperial, i still don't know imperial, just look up on a table if i ever needed to.

NASA lost multi-billion space probe to mars because it mixed with metric measurement, if they purged imperial, then we'd probably be living on mars by now

[JimG]

153 miles = 153 miles * 63360 inches/mile = 9694080 inches

153 kilometers = 1000m/km * 100cm/m = 15300000 centimeters

You tell me which is easier and faster to do.

Jim

[Sgt_Strider]

153 miles = 153 miles * 63360 inches/mile = 9694080 inches

153 kilometers = 1000m/km * 100cm/m = 15300000 centimeters

You tell me which is easier and faster to do.

Jim

Metric :cheesygri

[Platypus]

There is nothing at all backward about the imperial system.
It was designed for mankind
Metric was created for mathematicians and scientists
NOT everyday living.

Uh, metric is (indirectly) derived from a system initially created by French revolutionists in the late 18th century. It was standardized in the early 1960s so that there would be no confusion when communicating internationally.

They thought it would be easier to do conversions for everyday weights and measurements, as opposed to relying on some "arbitrary" value that royalty declared.

[Al Kaseltzer]

We have keys everywhere in the plant. Unorganized. That in itself isn't the problem. What IS the problem with imperial keys is that it is difficult to determine if one key is bigger than the other (assuming that I have two keys that are close in size).

Are you saying you have trouble telling whether one fraction is bigger or smaller than another ? Like is 17/32 bigger or smaller than 9/16 ?

That's not a problem with the imperial system, that's a problem with grade 5 arithmetic.

[PennyArcade]

Are you saying you have trouble telling whether one fraction is bigger or smaller than another ? Like is 17/32 bigger or smaller than 9/16 ?

That's not a problem with the imperial system, that's a problem with grade 5 arithmetic.

Nope, it is a problem with the imperial system.

Let me ask you what is faster to determine?

2.5 < 3.0 or 17/32 < 9/16?

With metric keys, it is much easier to determine what is smaller and larger than imerial keys.

I just don't see the point of using fractions in their sizes. Why did they choose to use fractions? Why not go decimal and make it easier? When you use a lot of different size keys with different heads, it gets annoying.

[Al Kaseltzer]

It takes me about a quarter of a second (sorry, 0.25 seconds) to figure out 9 x 2 = 18 in my head, so it does take longer, but I can't figure out why you were talking about converting to decimal and looking up tables in your original post.

also, if the calculator hasn't been invented yet, fractions make much more sense.

[PennyArcade]

It takes me about a quarter of a second (sorry, 0.25 seconds) to figure out 9 x 2 = 18 in my head, so it does take longer, but I can't figure out why you were talking about converting to decimal and looking up tables in your original post.

also, if the calculator hasn't been invented yet, fractions make much more sense.

I never said looking up at a table I did say you have to compare two fractions together:

I grab a 17/32 key which is too big. What's smaller? I have to convert that stupid fraction into a decimal and then take another key, look at it, then figure out another fraction to see if it is smaller.

I will agree that you don't have to convert to decimal because you can find a common denominator and compare the numerator, but you are still comparing two numbers in the end.

Yes, if Imperial key sizes were done before the calculator (likely), then designating them in fractions has some merit.

[divx]

also, if the calculator hasn't been invented yet, fractions make much more sense.

how so? I've learned both fraction and decimal in gr3, but with decimal there is no need to find the common denominator, cross multiply (equation).

[terribly]

While it's nostalgic and all, we have calculators now.

No sense in keeping it around.

[Ojam]

IMPERIAL RULES

There is virtually nothing good about the metric system.
EVERYTHING ABOUT METRIC SUCKS BIG TIME
:mad:
How can anyone who lives in Canada like metric.???????????????
With stupid metric we have damn negative temperatures
steady for 7-8 months.
What sounds better in the dead of winter 5 above or
FLIPPING MINUS 14
I DON'T EVEN WANT TO GO OUTSIDE WHEN I HEAR THAT
Same thing in the summer 75,76,77,78.79
sounds so much better than 24 above
Metric is JUST one more way the government/gas stations
rips us off using liters instead of gallons
TALK ABOUT STUPID!!
What's better putting 12 gallons in or 48 liters
NO FARKING CONTEST!!!! metric BLOWS

Well, while you’re living in fairly land with bases of 12 (yuk) the rest of the world will be living in the real world with a base of 10; you talk about 79 degrees sounding better then 24? sure, if you want to cook a pie, but not if you want to do anything, water freezes at 0, isn't that genius, and it boils at 100, see how that works, it's great simple, no wacky odd numbers. Move a decimal point and you have the next measurement up or down, simple, for the everyday person no crazy calculations in your head, simply move it to the left, or right. Long live Metric, bring on metric time and lets advance some more.

[putty]

I always wondered if some Americans drive into Canada, see the posted speeds of 100km/h and think its 100 miles per hour.
:lol:

[NDman]

Whoa. Sure has turned into a bit of a shouting match!

So which's better? Mac or PC? :D

[PennyArcade]

how so? I've learned both fraction and decimal in gr3, but with decimal there is no need to find the common denominator, cross multiply (equation).

Well, I can see how this worked out.

Let's assume the inch was defined before the allen key.

Some blacksmith (or machine) created a key. They decided to use 64th's of an inch as a measurement (don't ask me why).

This would create the fractions you see these days. Converting a 64th's of an inch would be a large decimal.

Best I can come up with. Don't agree with the fractions these days though.