Imperial or Metric system?

[ginnyfizz]

No, the point is, we are not attempting to force the Imperial system on anyone else, but the EU are attempting to force it on us. No-one is calling the Imperial system freedom, or saying it is better than the metric, we merely desire the freedom to use it when we choose. But there is no give and take here, the EU decrees that we should prosecute greengrocers for selling their fruit and veggies in pounds and ounces. Whatever happened in the past as to standardisation of weights and measures in the UK isn't relevant - surely you cannot argue that just because a long ago law (passed by our own government of the time) made the Imperial system compulsory, that gives the EU - who, last I heard did not govern Britain - the right to stuff their metric system down our throats?

[phoneyLogic]

Hm, it's okay. I don't wanna force anyone and since England is not a full member of the EU, I think the EU can't force England as well. So I guess you stay as independent as you are. But now let's just forget about politics.

 

But the english system was forced by law and was redefined several times. I didn't even knew that the imperial system was an European mixture. So yes, we kind of have a similar weight an measure history ^^.

English units refers to the historical units of measurement in medieval England, which evolved as a combination of the Anglo-Saxon and Roman systems of units. They were redefined in England in 1824 by a Weights and Measures Act, which retained many but not all of the unit names with slightly different values, and again in the 1970s by the SI subset of the Metric system. In modern UK usage, the term is considered ambiguous, as it could refer either to the imperial system used in the UK, or to the US customary system of unit. The usual term used in the UK for the non-metric system is imperial units.

 

Within the United States, the same term is commonly used to refer to the United States Customary System[1], which retains some unit names but with different values, as well as to the imperial units.

 

Various standards under the name English units have applied at different times, in different places and for different things. Prior to the Battle of Hastings in 1066 the Anglo-Saxon system of measurement had been based on the units of the barleycorn and the gyrd (rod), inherited from tribes from Germany. After the Norman conquest, Roman units were reintroduced. The resultant system of English units was a combination of the Anglo-Saxon and Roman systems.

 

Later development of the English system continued by defining the units by law in the Magna Carta of 1215, and issuing measurement standards from the then capital Winchester. Standards were renewed in 1496, 1588 and 1758. The last Imperial Standard Yard in bronze was made in 1845; it served as the standard in the United Kingdom until the yard was internationally redefined as 0.9144 metre in 1959 (statutory implementation: Weights and Measures Act of 1963). The English system then spread to other parts of the British Empire.

( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_units )

[JimboUK]

Hm, it's okay. I don't wanna force anyone and since England is not a full member of the EU, I think the EU can't force England as well. So I guess you stay as independent as you are. But now let's just forget about politics.

 

<snip>

 

Oh they did try but failed...

 

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2007/sep/11/eu.politics

 

I don't have a problem with using metric but I agree with ginnyfizz, people should be free to use whatever system they prefer. There is something wrong when a trader can be put before a court and fined for selling bananas by the pound.

[phoneyLogic]

Hm, it's okay. I don't wanna force anyone and since England is not a full member of the EU, I think the EU can't force England as well. So I guess you stay as independent as you are. But now let's just forget about politics.

 

<snip>

 

Oh they did try but failed...

 

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2007/sep/11/eu.politics

 

I don't have a problem with using metric but I agree with ginnyfizz, people should be free to use whatever system they prefer. There is something wrong when a trader can be put before a court and fined for selling bananas by the pound.

Hmm, I didn't know about that.

But if you have a second look into the history of the imperial system, wasn't it always a mixture of foreign measures anyway?

[JimboUK]

It's been a mixture of all sorts of things and wasn't really standardised until the 19th century, at one point a yard was the distance between the kings nose and his thumb when his arm was outstretched.

[Surenas]

Wonder if we'd still talk about the outdated imperial system if only Liberia is left...

Guess not. And precisely that is the point.

[AltreU]

I agree with ginnyfizz on the topic. It's not really a matter of which is better; both have their own set uses in each country now (whether used or not). Saying that one should be used over another is nearly the same thing as saying one language should be used worldwide and used instead of others due to it's history or superiority. Many counties have become comfortable with one, the other, or both and I feel it should be left that way. Otherwise, it'd take a long time for people to get used to systems that not every common civilian is familiar with.

 

I grew up with "Imperial", but I have to use metric every now and then for theater projects.

[Surenas]

The question which one is better is already answered by the fact that only three countries on earth still use a non-metric system.

The real question is: how flexible are those who insist on outated stuff by means of whatever and - how long does outdated stuff survive in a networked world that harmonizes the technical systems already for quite some time. I recall the guilder, but the introduction of the Euro didn't throw over my convictions - now I don't have to convert the different currencies. And that's half the battle...

[AltreU]

The question which one is better is already answered by the fact that only three countries on earth still use a non-metric system.

 

 

While I respect your conviction, it's simply your opinion, not a fact. I'm in the US and know that not every little detail here is guided by one system. We've worked fine so far with other countries, it'll stay that way. Were one system so obviously and substantially more efficient, no one would use the other. By now, I think we've (as a collective race) gotten to a point where choosing one or the other has been decided by our current usage of one, the other, or both. I consider it to be of dual usage when convenient.

[ginnyfizz]

How can the Imperial system be outdated, when there are so many millions of people still quite happy with it? Surenas, you make very sweeping statements here. What the heck has flexibility to do with it? If you read my posts, I have stated that actually I will use the metric system when appropriate. I have worked in technical sales and exporting and really you do not have to be a genius to do currency or measurement conversions. In a many cases your export software or even your smartphone will do it for you. Quite flexible that, as is my ability to speak two languages other than my own, or three if you count Latin (perhaps that's a little outdated too.) It is a question of liberty to use, in our own country, the system we choose, without some bossy bottom Eurocrat telling us we can't. We can survive perfectly well using both systems.