Nations who have not yet adopted the metric system (pic)

It's all a conspiracy perpetuated by the Building Trade Industry to keep on selling 2X4s, yardsticks and Carpeting by the foot.


As a carpenter, I've been neck deep in it for 20+ years!




Tee hee!
Cuhail

Originally posted by stumason
I'll assume the above is a poor attempt at American humour

As for your "WTF" on the side of Africa, I am surprised as an American citizen you don't know your history.

I do believe, although I may be wrong, that little red blob is Liberia.

Oh I assure you Sir, that was no attempt.

Yup it's Liberia. I just found it funny that with the depth of the British Empire's involvement with Africa, only one little country still uses Imperial.

Originally posted by Cuhail

It's all a conspiracy perpetuated by the Building Trade Industry to keep on selling 2X4s, yardsticks and Carpeting by the foot.


As a carpenter, I've been neck deep in it for 20+ years!

Tee hee!
Cuhail

Cuhail that made my day

2 by 4 instead of 38mm x 89mm ? what would you prefer to memorize?

by dejohnsto77:

Anyway, in the end, people are most comfortable with what they're used to and Americans are notoriously stubborn to change imposed by government, so I imagine general use of the Imperial system will continue here for quite a long time.

Well stated dejohn! The Brit system just feels more natural plus is based on human and earth related measurements. Doubt it will be replaced soon!

The americans do NOT use the imperial system. Take a 44 gallon drum - the yanks get 55 gallons into it. An american ton is 2000 pounds not the imperial 2240. This is capitalism trying to convince americans that they are getting more for their money.

As one who has grown up with the imperial system and then made the conversion to metric with my country, I find that both systems have their advantages and disadvantages.

The metric system is great when actually measuring something and its ease in mathematical use is excellent. The ease of mathematical operations also makes the metric system useable for the intellectually deprived. But the metric system is not uniform. Some measurement standards (esp compound measurements like pressure) vary across countries. Is the tyre filled in atmospheres, newtons, kilopascals or kg/cm? Don't get it wrong - boom!
Then there's the inconsistency of other vehicular compound measurements - fuel economy and speed. Fuel economy is measured by amount of fuel used per unit of distance but speed is measured in distance per unit of time. Economy rises as the quotient goes DOWN but speed rises as the quotient goes UP (doh!) Consistency dictates that both should be variable per unit as it was under the imperial system and every other common compound measurement regime (cycles per second, revolutions per minute, meteors per hour etc).

The imperial system is excellent for estimations and spatial visualisations because its units relate (in many cases) to human measures; inch - the length of a finger joint, foot - self-explanatory, yard - nose to fingertip, fathom - man's height. Pacing out a distance in yards is easier than pacing it out in metres (the extra few inches of the metre require a stretch for most people).
Remembering the relationships (12, 36, 1760, 5280, 20, 16, 14, 640, 2240 and so on) provides a never-ending source of intellectual exercise and so helps to keep the brain in good order.

Each system has its benefits but in our dumbing-down world the metric system will eventually gain exclusive use because the imperial system is just too hard for all the non-thinkers.

why is it that Britain is metric, but whenever the weight of a person is mentioned in a British encyclopedic or journalistic article it is listed in 'stone'?

Hello 16th century! Here is your unit of measurement, thanks for letting us borrow it.

Originally posted by Cuhail

It's all a conspiracy perpetuated by the Building Trade Industry to keep on selling 2X4s, yardsticks and Carpeting by the foot.

Also having to purchase 2 sets of wrenches must fit in there.

the most annoying thing is when you buy a socket set for $30 at Kmart and you get BOTH imperial and metric.. darn that stupid fractions crap!

working on my car and nope, 12 + 13mm dont fit coz theyre too small, i reach for the 14mm knowing its the one i need only to find they gave me 5/8, 9/16, 15/32 and a bunch of other oddball sizes and hokey imperial crap that round off my metric nuts n bolts!
then they go back to metric for 18, 19, 20mm etc.



[edit on 16/7/07 by Obliv_au]

You need to shop at a better tool shop. Spend a few dollars and get the right tools. Cheap tools these days, the price you pay at the tool shop is a rental agreement. If a cheap angle grinder has a 12 month warranty, you get to use a grinder for 12 months from the date of purchaes. It doesn't say how often you'll need to do a warranty claim, or how long the claim will take. I once went through 3 cheap grinders in 12 months, it would have been 12 if they replaced it with shelf stock instead of "having to make a warranty claim".

I'm surprised that the U.S. hasn't followed suit!

Here's a thought:

Remember back in the 60's when Gene Roddenberry created Star Trek? Remember the 'terminology' they used when comparing distances between stars, planets, etc? It was in Kilometers.

Mr. Roddenberry was pretty ahead of his time with regards to futuristic lifestyles. Did he foresee a time when we all would 'take on the ways of the world' for the betterment of all? Was it just wishful thinking on his part?

Some things that were concidered 'way out there' or 'improbable' have come to fruition since then.

Are the last 3 countries mentioned in the OP's map staving off their metric conversion for reasons unknown? Are they keeping their citizens 'at bay' for abiguous reasons? Your guess is as good as mine.

I think the rest of the world is waiting for the U.S. to come on board.

IMO, it would be a great idea to have standardized speed signs between Canada and the U.S.

No more 'second guessing' or excuses to blabber out when the State troopers or Canadian police pull us over regarding speed limits.

How many of you crossed the borders and grumbled to yourselves: "Oh man, now I have to convert...blah.

Most, if not all cars in North America, have 'secondary' indicators in the speedometers. I.e. Right under my Canadian kilometers I can see the (lesser defined) Miles Per hour. I've seen just the opposite with a few of my American friends' cars.

GM and other companies out-source to private companies to specifically build these speed dials. I wonder if it would cost less money to have a universal speedometer; as opposed to having 2 different systems working together - less writing/less labelling = less monies? Hmm...




[edit on 16-7-2007 by TheDuckster]

If you work on equipment, you will need both SAE and Metric tools to repair anything.

Kinda' ticks me off. ( as several wrenches thrown across the shop can testified.)

Roper

in MA, we measure distance by time. if something is 80 miles away, we say "bout an hour north"

I find it interesting that one of the only countries that was never ruled by the British are one of the only ones who still use the Imperial system of measurements . I mean, they fought for independance from them but now they are strongly holding the only thing tying them to the Crown.

Americans don't need nuthing frum nobody!! except your measurement system based on the size of the King's foot.

Well actually we more or less made our own system based of the Imperial system,
though it is close enough IMO to just call them the same thing, even though
there are differences.

I mean sure we claimed our Independence and all and adopted many new systems,
but there would really be no point to create an entire new system of measurement,
I mean it's just not logical.

Doesn't the word click in military terms refer to a kilometre. Don't the US forces use this and thus metric?

Originally posted by Britman
Doesn't the word click in military terms refer to a kilometre. Don't the US forces use this and thus metric?

Yes, Klick is a condensed form of the word Kilometer.

The military, like much of the government uses a mixture of Metric and American Imperial.

The military uses metric measurements for long distances, but use Imperial for height,
weight, short distance and other things, in cases of weapons millimeter is usually used.

To me, the metric system makes math a hell of a lot more complicated. As if it needed any help in that..

Originally posted by SpeakerofTruth
To me, the metric system makes math a hell of a lot more complicated. As if it needed any help in that..

Huh?
Dealing in multiples of ten is difficult for you?


Isnt the metric sytem the measurement standard of the New World Order?

I remember some years ago when they tried to 'convert' us to metric here in the states.
It didnt go over well then, but slowly it is creeping its way into our lives.
Its inevitable, just like the NWO, just like death.
That doesnt mean we cant fight it though.

Originally posted by WinoBot
in MA, we measure distance by time. if something is 80 miles away, we say "bout an hour north"

I totally know what you mean. In Australia I find it really hard to understand that something 500 kilometers away is generally 5 hours. Or that 1400 kilometers away is generally 14 hours. Oh sorry... you can do that easily in imperial right??!

Its complicated because things freeze at zero degrees C and that just doesn't make sense, shouldn't it be some arbitrary number like 32. Water boils at 100 degrees C when really it should boil at 212. What temp is half way to boiling? Well in C i know it would be 50 but in F I wouldn't have an idea without doing the conversion or looking at a gauge.

Trust me if the military uses it, its easy. They changed a fair while ago because its easier to understand and use in almost every application.

[edit on 25-7-2007 by justsomeaussie]

Originally posted by 11Bravo



Isnt the metric sytem the measurement standard of the New World Order?

No, no, no. Get your facts right. The Metric system was brought to us by our Reptilian overlords.