Lonan3 Posted May 9, 2007 Share Posted May 9, 2007 LINK TO TODAY'S TIMES Meat, fish, fruit and vegetables can continue to be sold in pounds and ounces in Britain indefinitely, after a U-turn by the European Commission. The decision, disclosed in a letter made public last night, also means that fabrics, carpets and timber and other building materials can be sold in yards, feet or inches. Road signs can remain in miles per hour. The move delighted consumers and shopkeepers after a campaign by the Metric Martyrs that had been backed by the Conservative Party and the British Weights and Measures Association. Business lobbyists said that keeping pounds and ounces made it easier for British companies to sell to the United States. Mr Verheugen, who is German, informed Giles Chichester, MEP, the Tory industry spokesman at the European Parliament, about the change. He will publish a formal amendment this year. To people of my age, this is great news and, even those who insist that we ought to fully adopt the French-invented system may find it surprising just how often they think in 'imperial' rather than 'metric.' Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Old Git Posted May 9, 2007 Share Posted May 9, 2007 I've just been reading the BBC's HYS on this, some quite amusing comments http://newsforums.bbc.co.uk/nol/thread.jsp...=20070509162806 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cheeky boy Posted May 9, 2007 Share Posted May 9, 2007 We have got used to using the two systems side by side e.g: Two pounds of bananas and a litre of orange juice, 3 meters of 4x2 timber etc. Cannabis users have an interetsing anomaly, they buy dope in quarters, halves and ounces but if prosecuted will be charged for the amount in grammes (or kilos if they are total stoners) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GD4ELI Posted May 9, 2007 Share Posted May 9, 2007 To people of my age, this is great news and, even those who insist that we ought to fully adopt the French-invented system may find it surprising just how often they think in 'imperial' rather than 'metric.' Having been brought up on the Island and now living on the continent for over years I would gladly dump Imperial weights and measures. Engineers did this a long time ago, children are taught metric. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Old Git Posted May 9, 2007 Share Posted May 9, 2007 [quote name='cheeky boy' date='May 9 2007, 07:43 PM' post='235767' Cannabis users have an interetsing anomaly, they buy dope in quarters, halves and ounces but if prosecuted will be charged for the amount in grammes (or kilos if they are total stoners) From the BBC HYS page - "I completely understand the frustration of the people who don't like a mix of metric and imperial. My drug dealer sells crack by the ounce, but when I don't pay up he threatens me with his 9mm. Go figure." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
P.K. Posted May 9, 2007 Share Posted May 9, 2007 Unfortunately for the French the kilo "yardstick" (all my own work and I liked it by the way) is deteriorating and can no longer be relied upon to be the definitive measure. What a shame Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gladys Posted May 9, 2007 Share Posted May 9, 2007 Eh? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Declan Posted May 9, 2007 Share Posted May 9, 2007 Trouble is they should have done the switch straight away in the 70's (or not bother at all). I was probably one of the first to learn metric exclusively at school, but all around me was in imperial - my height and weight were measured in feet and stone, I bought sweets in quarters, and lived a mile from school. The result is I grew up with a rather hazy concept of measurement. Take distance for example - Smaller things I'd measure in mm or cm but if I wanted to describe how tall someone was I'd say "six foot" and a height in metres would be meaningless to me. However, then it's back to metric because of athletics I know how far 100 metres, 200 metres, 400 metres etc are. But saying something is 10 kilometres away loses me but say 10 miles and I know. It's all a very British muddle. It's about thirty years since I was first taught measurement and they still can't make their minds up! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Old Git Posted May 10, 2007 Share Posted May 10, 2007 Smaller things I'd measure in mm or cm but if I wanted to describe how tall someone was I'd say "six foot" and a height in metres would be meaningless to me. Weather wise, I find cold temperatures make more sense to me in C and warm temperatures are better for me in F Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cheeky boy Posted May 10, 2007 Share Posted May 10, 2007 If you decribed someone as being "hung like a horse" would that be metric or imperial ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Sausages Posted May 10, 2007 Share Posted May 10, 2007 I like having both. Imperial seems to be used for rough estimates, and metric suits precise measurements. It does however make playing golf in Europe a pain in the arse. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amadeus Posted May 10, 2007 Share Posted May 10, 2007 Typical backward-moving British thinking: "We're different! Ha - two fingers to you euro lot!" Probably proud of it as well.. Metric all the way - this foot and inches stuff is outdated rubbish! I want 0-100, not 0-62 - and "Newton Meter" instead of "foot pounds of torque"! And where the f*ck is my 560mmx 1055mm x 1025mm deck chair, with it's 430mm seat height, which I can position 30 meters down the beach during sunny 37°C ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miss Take Posted May 10, 2007 Share Posted May 10, 2007 I think it was finally realised that if the metric system was implemented and confusion no longer existed, men would no longer be able to say 'that's six inches, love - honest'. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lonan3 Posted May 10, 2007 Author Share Posted May 10, 2007 And where the f*ck is my 560mmx 1055mm x 1025mm deck chair, with it's 430mm seat height, which I can position 30 meters down the beach during sunny 37°C ? Doesn't that depend on whether your beach towel is imperial or metric? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amadeus Posted May 10, 2007 Share Posted May 10, 2007 Doesn't that depend on whether your beach towel is imperial or metric? Nah..our beach towels were designed with international use in mind - can be applied to any deck chair in seconds, anywhere Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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