Imperial or Metric system?

[phoneyLogic]

Calm down folks, no need to argue.

Whatever "Metrics", Germans, "EU MPs" [...] are, it is not related to the metric system :rolleyes:

 

You also don't *have to* convert all your stuff into metrics.

Some folks may wonder what the problem might be.

 

To make a conclusion:

1. The imperial system is there and therefore it stays.
   Some folks assotiate imperial with freedom while metrics with EU.
   EU is kind of the worst enemy.
   Even people who life there hate the EU.
    
   
2. MPs trained chicken to lay eggs by command according to the following rules:
    
   Grade
   Grade A - fresh, for the public market
   Grade B - fresh, for the industrial market
    
   Keeping
   0 - Bio
   1 - Open Ground
   2 - Free run
   3 - Cage system housing
    
   Weight class
   XL - Extrem Large, 73g and above
   L - Large, 63g up to 73g
   M - Medium, 53g up to 63g
   S - Small, below 53g
    
   Number
   e.g. 6 or 12 eggs in the pack
    
   This causes the English to sympathize with poultry.
    
   
3. When ever Dutch and English are arguing, Germans get mentioned or grilled.
    
   
4. A jigger is an unit to measure your tastes.
    
   
5. The English love their measures like the Welsh their sheeps.
    
   
6. Conversion is a problem - while it isn't.
   Als long websites exist like this: http://www.lenntech.com/calculators/volume/volume.htm
   the English are perfectly fluent in conversations.
    
   
7. American politicians are not elected to make laws. If they do so, they are forced to recede.
   

 

... as far as I understood

:sweat:

[ginnyfizz]

Oh I agree with you tortured Tomato, except on the subject of Eurotwits..err..sorry...Euro MP's and EU officials, who thoroughly deserve a spell in the stocks and a pelting with eggs (extra large, packed by the dozen) and squishy tomatoes. Let's face it, these twits are paid for by your taxes as well as mine, so bring along a kilo or two of your own fruit and veggies.

[Vagrant0]

Er... Um... Last I checked, the EU didn't decide policy or anything in the US even remotely related to the standard unit of measure, side of the street people drive on, which side of a boiled egg should be eaten first, how many episodes count as cannon for the original series of Startrek... ect. Ok, I think I lost myself in that thought somewhere, but hopefully you get the friggin point. Nobody can force a chance in beliefs, especially when they have little involvement in the matter, and the only thing which ever comes from meaningless arguments like this is conflict between global practicality verses local practicality, making sure all confused tourists are less confused, or having to temporarily confuse locals who now need to go through the drive-thru the other way around, the death of countless Lilliputians, and two fans of a series who would normally be good friends having an all-out, asthma inducing slap fight in the sci-fi section of a comics/collectibles store, to which a passing observer makes the comment "The force is not strong with these ones", causing the quarreling duo to become a threesome that was only put to an end when their names were removed from the local Magic tournament and were banned from the store for atleast a week*.

 

Has it ever occured to anyone that perhaps the reason for multiple units of measure is really just an evil plot by tool companies to sell you both tools and fittings for multiple standards, thereby doubling the amount of tools sold as well as increasing the size of storage systems for those tools?

 

*yes, it's a horribly offensive use of geek stereotypes, but that's why it works.

Edited July 21, 2010 by Vagrant0

[SilverDNA]

Thanks Vargant0, that thoughts brought somethings up in my mind that I would like to share.

 

Here in my country there is a debate about the more and more English terms in language coming up for years that have some similar arguments like the debate her on the metric or imperial system. 

 

So I ask my self the following in both debates about each argument. 

 

Is the argument "Per aris et focis." (for home and hearth) or "Per fas et nefas." (right and wrong) or  "for the true good of all" (per vernum unum bonum) 

 

I would like to ad some truth of Aesop to this all "United we stand, divided we fall"

 

... but the choices are our own how we are united and divided.

 

I'm not quite sure about if some of the arguments to protecting the Imperial system are to protect the middle sized companies there as well from competition. (see argument per aris et focis) So I'm asking to clarify that argument please. to see if is really as I suspect or if it is "per fas et nefas" or "per vernum unum bonum".

[ginnyfizz]

No Vagrant, you are lucky that in the US the EU can't even attempt to force you to change anything as regards what system of measurement you use. But that hasn't stopped the argument being proposed in this thread that "You HAVE to change". That's why I maintain that the argument being made by the metric fanatics is just one of pure bossiness, which cannot work.

 

@SilverDNA - the whole point of foreign language expressions getting into common usage is that people use them BY CHOICE. And no, the argument for keeping Imperial is nothing to do with protecting companies. It's a case of "We don't want to be dictated to by Eurocrats." Simple as that.

[Vagrant0]

Who exactly is saying "You HAVE to change", and based on what authority? I'm pretty certain that anyone who has even suggested that any change might be a good idea has pointed out that it would probably have to happen by choice, and over the course of many years if it was to happen at all. Not even the US government could make such a proclamation since it would almost undoubtedly be an unfavorable one, and result in those government officials not having a job much longer and the decision being overturned rather quickly. And, frankly speaking, we have more than enough issues in this country as is, and such a forced change would only bring more problems into the mix.

[ginnyfizz]

I merely said that there are those in this thread that have said...

 

You HAVE to convert

 

And others apart from myself picked up on that. As I was saying, the US can't be compelled to do anything - and aren't you lucky - but it isn't stopping the advocates of metrication in this thread suggesting that the Anglos and Americans have to get metricated.

[Paxan_1]

Hi again,

 

i don't think the Imperial System user should be forced to change the system. The way i think is it will be happen because of the interference with the metric using world. It is like the currency change from the predeciamal system to the current one. I don't know if there are countries still out there not using the decimal, and if they are unimportant :whistling:

Some of the countries which have used imperial have changed by law, like Canada and Australia. So if USA and GB would change it would be a generation thing, like the introduction of the Euro. These generation which is used to imperial will use it, even if metric is introduced, but the "new" generation will use it. Ask a Canadian born after 1980 and i think he will tell you he is using metric.

 

Paxan

[ginnyfizz]

I believe that what you say is indeed possible. At the moment, you have the folks like my parents generation who know only the Imperial system. Then you have my generation who use both. For future generations, who will be educated only using the metric system, a time will come maybe when they make the choice to fully adopt the metric system. The word "choice" being the operative one.

[Vagrant0]

And to end the argument...

http://www.wimp.com/metricsystem/

 

But in fairness, if they knew how to subtract fractions in their head, they probably wouldn't be building motorcycles. The fact that the measurement keeps changing and getting screwed up because nobody bothers writing any of it down and they're collaborating on an answer when only 1 of them has taken a measurement doesn't help things.