Imperial Measurements in the U.K.

[Chesterton]

I was watching a documentary the other day when I noticed these Brits were talking about length and width and such in terms of feet and inches. Then I remembered that I think you still drink "pints". I found the video below which seems to say you guys use the imperial system more than I thought. So when do you use imperial vs. metric? I'm sure that metric is always used in the sciences, right?

 

[Of the Kingdom]

The wikipedia article Metrication in the United Kingdom - Wikipedia has pretty good info on the patchwork nature of metric vs imperial use in commerce and public use. UK made a lot of changes in the 1970's and 1980's, so I'm quite surprised if personal usage is as "old style" as suggested in the video.

I would have expected a person's height and temperature to be metric by now. I remember discussions of pints vs half-liters for beer; I has assumed that was long settled in favor of metric.

Weight in stones should certainly be a preserved historic artifact, though not for everyday use. As an American, where stones are normally never used, I enjoy someone quoting their weight in stones occasionally.

I

 

[Silverback]

I never thought of "Pints" but other than that I have never heard a Brit use anything but metric.

 

[JackRT]

Science works only in metric in the USA but in engineering they use both. This has led to some serious problems.

One was the loss of a $125 million Mars probe due to failure to convert properly between units.
https://www.simscale.com/blog/2017/12/nasa-mars-climate-orbiter-metric/

Another was the near loss of the Gimli Glider (Air Canada flight 143) in 1983 when it ran out of fuel and was forced to glide 70 miles to an abandoned airport.
https://www.simscale.com/blog/2017/12/nasa-mars-climate-orbiter-metric/

 

[tampasteve]

I like to use the volume measurement gill when appropriate, it is fun. I started after seeing it used on the tv show "Archer". Kind of a forgotten imperial measurement in general use.

 

[JackRT]

I like to use the volume measurement gill when appropriate, it is fun. I started after seeing it used on the tv show "Archer". Kind of a forgotten imperial measurement in general use.

Would you like a firkin of ale?

 

[Of the Kingdom]

Would you like a firkin of ale?

OK, you're in the lead so far for most obscure imperial measure. I've heard the term before, and I'd be willing to guess it's more than a *gill* but less than a *stone*.

 

[JackRT]

A "firkin" is a small cask equal to about half a kilderkin.

 

[tampasteve]

A "firkin" is a small cask equal to about half a kilderkin.

Obviously! Some people are such troglodytes!

 

[bhillyard]

The gill is even crazier - it's size depended on where you were so that pubs had to declare in a notice what size they were using - 1/6 or 1/4 pint.

 

[Bob Crowley]

But is the beer warm or cold?

 

[JackRT]

But is the beer warm or cold?

I don't really care as long as my white wine is chilled.

 

[Chesterton]

Weight in stones should certainly be a preserved historic artifact, though not for everyday use. As an American, where stones are normally never used, I enjoy someone quoting their weight in stones occasionally.

I like to use the volume measurement gill when appropriate, it is fun. I started after seeing it used on the tv show "Archer". Kind of a forgotten imperial measurement in general use.

I like to state my age in scores. Two sounds a lot less than forty.

 

[HantsUK]

Officially the UK is (mostly) metric, but for everyday 'popular' usage, we are mixed. Speed and distance are miles per hour and miles, but shorter distances are metres. Most people know their heigh in feet and inches, and weight in stones and pounds (but not pounds only). I can think in both stones & pounds, or in kg. Obviously, a pint is a pint (imperial, not American) - milk or beer.

At work (engineering), I have always used metric, including when working for a major American electronics company (which was completely metric).

I expect that many people, like me, are equally happy using imperial or metric.

However, America does not use imperial measurements. An American ton is smaller than an Imperial ton (American ton is 2,000 lb, while an Imperial ton is 20 hundred weigh = 2240 lb - which is very close to one metric tonne = 2,204 lb). Likewise the American gallon and pint are both about 20% smaller than their Imperial counterparts.

Another confusion is what we call a 'thou' (1/000 in), Americans call a 'mil', which in the UK would be short for the metric mm. 1mm = 40 thou.

 

[NIrelandGillian]

Yes, we're funny creatures here. When we're given our height or our weight we want to know what it is in feet and inches or stones and pounds. Somehow we coped with the change to decimal currency, although still the odd time I would convert an amount into old money.

Gillian

 

[faroukfarouk]

Yes, we're funny creatures here. When we're given our height or our weight we want to know what it is in feet and inches or stones and pounds. Somehow we coped with the change to decimal currency, although still the odd time I would convert an amount into old money.

Gillian

Hi @NIrelandGillian ; in the South it's been metric for years, right? they go by kilometres...

 

[Strong in Him]

Hi @NIrelandGillian ; in the South it's been metric for years, right? they go by kilometres...

It depends what you've been brought up on, or what you're used to in your place of work.
I still talk about miles, feet and yards. But my youngest brother, who was born the year that we went decimal, would have grown up with the decimal/metric system.

Incidentally, as my name is Gill, I use it all the time.

 

[Bob Crowley]

Incidentally, as my name is Gill, I use it all the time.

What's wrong with "Five Imperial Fluid Ounces"? Nobody, and I mean nobody, would ever forget your name.

 

[faroukfarouk]

It depends what you've been brought up on, or what you're used to in your place of work.
I still talk about miles, feet and yards. But my youngest brother, who was born the year that we went decimal, would have grown up with the decimal/metric system.

Incidentally, as my name is Gill, I use it all the time.

Over here in Canada it's mainly metric but sometimes Imperial measurements "persist", so to speak...

 

[NIrelandGillian]

Hi @NIrelandGillian ; in the South it's been metric for years, right? they go by kilometres...

It has, that's right, although I don't know which system they use in everyday conversation. When they went metric in the South - at the same time as the UK, I was sharing a flat in Dublin with a friend with the landlady on the premises and she was very suspicious of the new system - thought we were paying her less money for rent - or maybe it was the use of the phone - than we should have been. I know if I'm told a weight or distance or height in the imperial system I can automatically tell if it's heavy or light, far or near, tall or short. With metric it means nothing until I convert it. Gillian