Listen, it’s very simple: In Britain we use the metric system, except for beer and milk, which come in pints. But not plant milk — that comes in litres.
Oh, and distances are in miles. But only if they’re too far to walk — if you can walk it it’s in metres. If you’re driving then your fuel efficiency is in miles-per-gallon, but petrol is sold in litres.
Oh, and your height is in feet and inches. If you don’t care much about your weight it’s in stone (but not pounds — no-one can remember how many pounds are in a stone and it’s hard to read the little tick marks on analogue scales). If you do care about your weight then your digital scales tell you it in kilograms.
Oh, and if there’s a heatwave then tabloids will forecast a “100°F scorcher”. But if it’s cold then it’s an “arctic blast” with “widespread temperatures below 0°C”.
I hope this clears things up.
@katemorley@hachyderm.io Love it
@katemorley@hachyderm.io makes perfect sense
@katemorley@hachyderm.io Meh. It was worse when I was a kid. My English teacher used to say that the only thing worse than the British metric system is the British monetary system. Remind me, how many farthings are in a guinea?
@katemorley@hachyderm.io Then there's sport of course. Brits live cricket, where the size of the wicket is measured in inches and the distance between them is a single chain.
And soccer, where clubs like Liverpool measure in meters (and blame FIFA), but doubtless others measure in yards.
And horse races are measured in furlongs...
@katemorley@hachyderm.io @EdwinG@mstdn.moimeme.ca Sounds exactly like in canada.
@katemorley@hachyderm.io "Ton"/"Tonne" keeps confusing me. Is it the imperial or metric ton/tonne?
Are both terms used in the UK and/or Canada, and if so, are they always differentiated by "metric ton/tonne"?
@katemorley@hachyderm.io Vibe Measurement Units™
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@katemorley@hachyderm.io BTW, England is the country that not all that long ago had 220 pence to the pound. And had monetary denominations like shillings, tanners, crowns, farthings, florins. And the abbreviation for pence was d, of course.
@katemorley@hachyderm.io and English pints are 25% bigger than US pints.
In the US the rhyme is "A pint's a pound the world around." Which is clearly not true. Though I'd love to be able to buy a pint in a pub in London for a pound these days!
@katemorley@hachyderm.io - The US system is just as messed up. But I usually blame the government.
To be an historian (and wiser in years, still using "an" in cases of some words beginning with "h") in a time when you can watch the system implode in every measure.
@mweiss@infosec.exchange @katemorley@hachyderm.io
"English pints are 25% bigger than US pints." lol - schoolboy error - you think US and UK fluid ounces are the same ? 😜
@hitsuyonai@mastodon.online @katemorley@hachyderm.io oh crap. TIL...
English pints are ~20% bigger because English ounces are ~5% smaller. Even more of a mess than I had realized!
@hitsuyonai@mastodon.online @katemorley@hachyderm.io oh crap. TIL...
English pints are ~20% bigger because English ounces are ~5% smaller. Even more of a mess than I had realized!
Kate Morley
