Poll

No votes (0%)
No votes (0%)
No votes (0%)
9 votes (75%)
3 votes (25%)

12 members have voted

buzzpaff
buzzpaff
  • Threads: 112
  • Posts: 5328
Joined: Mar 8, 2011
October 7th, 2011 at 8:04:41 PM permalink
Over 50 years ago, when I was in high school, the USA was on the verge of going metric. In culinary arts class, I have discovered
most students can not do simple Math. The recipe was for 24 servings and we were only doing 6. The recipe called for a pint of
sour cream. Even after I volunteered there were 10 ounces in a pint, the majority had the wrong answer. Only by the Chef telling
them to use the calculator, and multiply 16 times .25, was a consensus reached.

The thread on Brit vs American English brought this back to mind. The only things I have seen change to metric standards in the last 50 years are 2 liter plastic soda bottles, 4.3 liter car engines, and the damn metric sockets you have to buy for an American car !

WILL THE USA EVER GO METRIC ???
Nareed
Nareed
  • Threads: 373
  • Posts: 11413
Joined: Nov 11, 2009
October 7th, 2011 at 8:06:06 PM permalink
What's the poll question?
Donald Trump is a fucking criminal
buzzpaff
buzzpaff
  • Threads: 112
  • Posts: 5328
Joined: Mar 8, 2011
October 7th, 2011 at 8:07:31 PM permalink
How many ounces in a pint of beer?

OK, that's a trick question. At least, if you're sitting in a pub in Oregon.

Because as everyone knows, a pint has 16 ounces. But in bars, taverns, and pubs across our fair state, there are pints that only have 14 ounces.

In fact, most bars serve "cheater pints" with only 14 ounces. And all this time, you've been getting ripped off - getting only 87.5% of the beer you've ordered and paid for.

Am I the only one who thinks EVENBOB is somehow behind this outrage in Oregon ???
buzzpaff
buzzpaff
  • Threads: 112
  • Posts: 5328
Joined: Mar 8, 2011
October 7th, 2011 at 8:08:36 PM permalink
DUHHH Should be when will the USA go metric ???
thecesspit
thecesspit
  • Threads: 53
  • Posts: 5936
Joined: Apr 19, 2010
October 7th, 2011 at 8:17:10 PM permalink
A pint is 20 imperial fluid ounces where I come from... you are being short changed even more in Oregon....(568ml in a UK pint, something less in a wimpy US pint).

Same way the US gallon is 5/6ths of a UK gallon. And the petrol is about 19/20ths as strong in terms of octane...
"Then you can admire the real gambler, who has neither eaten, slept, thought nor lived, he has so smarted under the scourge of his martingale, so suffered on the rack of his desire for a coup at trente-et-quarante" - Honore de Balzac, 1829
I808
I808
  • Threads: 0
  • Posts: 27
Joined: Feb 19, 2010
October 7th, 2011 at 8:53:57 PM permalink
Quote: buzzpaff


The thread on Brit vs American English brought this back to mind. The only things I have seen change to metric standards in the last 50 years are 2 liter plastic soda bottles, 4.3 liter car engines, and the damn metric sockets you have to buy for an American car !

WILL THE USA EVER GO METRIC ???



Tires are combination of metric and imperial.
Like they say in the marijuana industry "Sometimes you gotta roll your own!" (At the craps table that is)
Nareed
Nareed
  • Threads: 373
  • Posts: 11413
Joined: Nov 11, 2009
October 7th, 2011 at 8:58:32 PM permalink
Quote: buzzpaff

DUHHH Should be when will the USA go metric ???



Hopefully not as long as it took Europe to change from Roman numerals to Hindu-Arabic ones.
Donald Trump is a fucking criminal
buzzpaff
buzzpaff
  • Threads: 112
  • Posts: 5328
Joined: Mar 8, 2011
October 7th, 2011 at 9:10:30 PM permalink
The USA is the only major country that has retained a non-metric system (the other two countries are Liberia and Burma).
buzzpaff
buzzpaff
  • Threads: 112
  • Posts: 5328
Joined: Mar 8, 2011
October 7th, 2011 at 9:12:15 PM permalink
And of course we all know this :
One of the measures in the USA Measurement System is the Mark Twain. It is defined as the minimum safe clearance for steam wheel boats and is set to 2 fathoms. This was subsequently used as the pen name of the famous American writer (who lived during the time of steam wheel boats and featured then in some of his writings).
Face
Administrator
Face
  • Threads: 49
  • Posts: 4448
Joined: Dec 27, 2010
October 7th, 2011 at 9:15:53 PM permalink
I say never, but I wish it was yesterday. I love my jap bikes 'cause everything's simple, it's just intuitive. Then you do some carpentry and everything's all kattywampus. Being close to Canada and sometimes entering the lovely place, you gotta remember all manner of nonsense, like kph/mph is 8/5, and temp*1.8+32 is how hot it is. Just switch it already. Tell the ladies they'll instantly drop the number that represents their weight and you'll have half the populations support.

Though I imagine if "change" is suggested to the gov, we'll be back to using stone and rod just so they could stick it to us.
The opinions of this moderator are for entertainment purposes only.
buzzpaff
buzzpaff
  • Threads: 112
  • Posts: 5328
Joined: Mar 8, 2011
October 7th, 2011 at 9:18:38 PM permalink
But can we keep this one? Just for old time's sake !

The Cannot Shot measure is approximately 3 miles in length and is the distance originally used for US territorial waters.
buzzpaff
buzzpaff
  • Threads: 112
  • Posts: 5328
Joined: Mar 8, 2011
October 7th, 2011 at 9:33:50 PM permalink
I actually know what United Inches are. In the 1960's, when tin men were at work in Baltimore, so were the aluminum storms window guys. I had just bought my first house . The tv guide in the Sunday paper advertised 6 storm windows installed for $99, any size. My row house had windows 42 inches wide and 7 feet tall. The salesman showed up and tried to upgrade me, but I stood my ground. He did not even have a sample of the $99 deal. His last words were that I would have to wait till they got enough scrap metal to make my windows.
I told my Dad who bought 6 storm windows for his huge windows too. The guy told Dad he was looking for a model home on this side of town. At a great price for sure. LOL Dad sidestepped him saying maybe when he got his tax refund. He asked the guy for the address of any model home he could look at before then. The guy said they were all over town, except this neighborhood, Dad pressed him for an address to look and was told he would probably not be able to find them. Dad said he drove a cab for 20 years and doubted that. The guy promised to call Dad back when he got back to the office. But it must have slipped his mind.
But 2 sales at $99 for big storm windows did not. That next Sunday the add said 6 storm windows for $99, up to 100 united inches.
It's the width and length added together, used to measure windows and picture frames. Few fold beat the TIN MAN. See that movie and you will know why !!!!
FleaStiff
FleaStiff
  • Threads: 265
  • Posts: 14484
Joined: Oct 19, 2009
October 8th, 2011 at 2:15:09 AM permalink
Not clearance between two vessels. Clearance between the keel and the bottom. Its the call of the leadsman who used a leadline to sound the depth of the water. The first mark on a lead line is two fathoms so its by the mark twain. There was a mark at 5 and a mark at 7 but if the depth was estimated halfway it would be by the deep six.

The public didn't want metric... of course they didn't want prohibition either.
Flynn
Flynn
  • Threads: 12
  • Posts: 95
Joined: Aug 18, 2011
October 8th, 2011 at 4:13:56 AM permalink
No offense, but Americans are too damned proud to adapt a system that they didn't invent themselves.

A good example is the new hundred dollar bill (that was supposed to start circulating back in February). Instead of just adding a foil strip they spent millions of tax payers money to invent the "3D Security Ribbon"(which is basically a deluxe version of the foil strip). They started printing millions of notes but then realized that they were unusable because the notes came creased out of the printer. Now they are spending again million of dollars to solve the problem. If they had just adapted the foil strip this would never had happened.
My favorite bet: Double Down!
pacomartin
pacomartin
  • Threads: 649
  • Posts: 7895
Joined: Jan 14, 2010
October 8th, 2011 at 4:24:43 AM permalink
Quote: buzzpaff

The USA is the only major country that has retained a non-metric system (the other two countries are Liberia and Burma).



Well they still use the statute mile in the UK (where it was introduced 420 years ago). However, the mile was roughly based on measurement that extended back to the roman empire.

I think the decision has pretty much been made that international goods (such as wine, international foods, and most machinery) would switch to metric for uniformity sake, but that purely American goods (milk, distances, weight) didn't much matter.
pacomartin
pacomartin
  • Threads: 649
  • Posts: 7895
Joined: Jan 14, 2010
October 8th, 2011 at 4:29:24 AM permalink
Quote: Flynn

A good example is the new hundred dollar bill (that was supposed to start circulating back in February). Instead of just adding a foil strip they spent millions of tax payers money to invent the "3D Security Ribbon"(which is basically a deluxe version of the foil strip). They started printing millions of notes but then realized that they were unusable because the notes came creased out of the printer. Now they are spending again million of dollars to solve the problem. If they had just adapted the foil strip this would never had happened.



Try hundreds of millions of dollars. If the problem only cost a few million, it wouldn't even register in the news. It is one of the worst FU that you can imagine. They are making almost no headway with the plans for the fix, and they have to be on the verge of throwing out the whole lot. The banknotes are stamped 2009, but the odds of them coming out in 2012 are slim to nothing.

By the way, where are the new 50 pound notes? They were supposed to be released by now.
Nareed
Nareed
  • Threads: 373
  • Posts: 11413
Joined: Nov 11, 2009
October 8th, 2011 at 5:08:32 AM permalink
Quote: Flynn

No offense, but Americans are too damned proud to adapt a system that they didn't invent themselves.



Like the British system they use today? :)
Donald Trump is a fucking criminal
Nareed
Nareed
  • Threads: 373
  • Posts: 11413
Joined: Nov 11, 2009
October 8th, 2011 at 5:10:14 AM permalink
Quote: buzzpaff

The USA is the only major country that has retained a non-metric system (the other two countries are Liberia and Burma).



Yes. But other systems are also in use all over the world. In Mexico most things are metric, but screw and bolts are measured in inches, and paint comes in gallons.

America is also one of a few countries that haven't adopted soccer enthusiastically. They may be on to something.
Donald Trump is a fucking criminal
AZDuffman
AZDuffman
  • Threads: 240
  • Posts: 13885
Joined: Nov 2, 2009
October 8th, 2011 at 5:31:59 AM permalink
Quote: buzzpaff

WILL THE USA EVER GO METRIC ???



Depends on what you mean by"go metric." In popular culture it will not happen. People will think of temperature in farenheit forever in the USA. Prople will think in miles. But plenty of things in the USA are metric. Some of this has been said in the thread already, but:

Want to work opn your late-model car? Better get metric sockets.
Pop/soda is sold in 1 and 2 liter bottles OR 12oz cans, take your pick here!
Booze bottles are most often 750ml bottles.
Car engines have been quoted in liters for 30+ years now. Or is it "litres." Anyone on the board know why this is?
If you want to bid on selling items to the US Government, be prepared to do it in metrics for the most part.

I don't by the "not invented here" thing. (Though it is interesting Liberia, founded by the USA, also never converted.) I think it is an "instralled base" problem, similar to the example I gave in the Steve Jobs thread. From the housewife with her grandmother's recipie file to the factory with hundreds of millions invested in tooling, converting so much is no easy feat.

Conversion in my lifetime had mixed resiults. I remember the switch to 2-liter Pepsi and since you got a touch more in the bottle than 64oz noboody cared much and in fact they were more upset it was now made of plastic. Gasoline, OTOH, when some stations switched to selling it in liters was a disaster since nobody understood what they were paying and assumed they were being ripped off because the $5 worth they bought didn't move the guage as much. You eventually had to buymetric sockets and the big hassle there was Detroit mixed their sizes on the same cars, meaning you didn't know which size you might need. They keep trying to convert "miles to go" signs on the highway along with the mile markers but it never takes off. So many to change they never can do it all at once. To this day on the NYS Thruway there are a few "km" signs near Syracuse from when they tried it and quit.

I have a bigger question for all out there. If you were visiting earth for the first time and reading and viewing American popular culture, would you think the unit of measure was based on the "foot," "yard," "mile," or "football field?" Seems we have to have *everything* put in terms of "football field," doesn't it?
All animals are equal, but some are more equal than others
SoulChaser
SoulChaser
  • Threads: 3
  • Posts: 40
Joined: Mar 27, 2011
October 8th, 2011 at 6:07:46 AM permalink
If God wanted the USA to go fully metric, Christ would have had 10 disciples at His Last Supper, not 12.
Alan
Alan
  • Threads: 17
  • Posts: 582
Joined: Jun 14, 2011
October 8th, 2011 at 7:33:47 AM permalink
How about paper size(s). Is the US the only country that uses 8.5x11(letter), 8.5x14(legal) and 11x17, where as others use A4(kind of a cross between letter and legal size) and A3, which is close to 11x17? There may be other sizes, but those I mentioned I'm most familiar with.
Doc
Doc
  • Threads: 46
  • Posts: 7287
Joined: Feb 27, 2010
October 8th, 2011 at 8:00:54 AM permalink
Quote: buzzpaff

WILL THE USA EVER GO METRIC ???


Back in the '70s, I taught a physics class during which I posed the question, "What year, if ever, will all legal weights and measures in the United States be based on the Metric or International system of units?"

I can't remember exactly the answer I gave back then, but I think the year was in the 1800s. Somebody else can research the answer I have forgotten. No, we don't always express weights and measures in metric system terms, but the legal units have been specifically based on that system for a very long time; e.g., 1 inch is defined as 0.0254 meters.
Wizard
Administrator
Wizard
  • Threads: 1491
  • Posts: 26435
Joined: Oct 14, 2009
October 8th, 2011 at 8:15:51 AM permalink
Quote: buzzpaff

The USA is the only major country that has retained a non-metric system (the other two countries are Liberia and Burma).



I'm pretty sure when I went to Australia distances were indicated in miles. Don't they also use miles in Britain as well?

For what it is worth (exactly zero), I would support a cold turkey change to the metric system in the US.
"For with much wisdom comes much sorrow." -- Ecclesiastes 1:18 (NIV)
Doc
Doc
  • Threads: 46
  • Posts: 7287
Joined: Feb 27, 2010
October 8th, 2011 at 9:04:51 AM permalink
Quote: Wizard

For what it is worth (exactly zero), I would support a cold turkey change to the metric system in the US.

What!!!! I don't want to get only ten eggs to the carton -- I might go hungry.

And a cowboy would feel absolutely ridiculous buying a 37.854 liter hat.
Wizard
Administrator
Wizard
  • Threads: 1491
  • Posts: 26435
Joined: Oct 14, 2009
October 8th, 2011 at 9:38:21 AM permalink
Quote: Doc

What!!!! I don't want to get only ten eggs to the carton -- I might go hungry.

And a cowboy would feel absolutely ridiculous buying a 37.854 liter hat.



The private sector should be allowed to do what they want. However, the government should completely switch to the metric system. I think the rest of us will follow along, albeit kicking and screaming the entire way. Actually, I would enjoy watching the agony.
"For with much wisdom comes much sorrow." -- Ecclesiastes 1:18 (NIV)
Nareed
Nareed
  • Threads: 373
  • Posts: 11413
Joined: Nov 11, 2009
October 8th, 2011 at 10:29:23 AM permalink
Quote: Alan

How about paper size(s). Is the US the only country that uses 8.5x11(letter), 8.5x14(legal) and 11x17, where as others use A4(kind of a cross between letter and legal size) and A3, which is close to 11x17?



We use paper and legal for 99.999% of all business printing. Only we call if carta y oficio. Paper is sold under those names, with the measurements given in inches. The sizes are also given in centimeters, but I've no idea what it comes out to.
Donald Trump is a fucking criminal
Nareed
Nareed
  • Threads: 373
  • Posts: 11413
Joined: Nov 11, 2009
October 8th, 2011 at 10:31:34 AM permalink
Quote: Doc

What!!!! I don't want to get only ten eggs to the carton -- I might go hungry.



A dozen is not a British unit of measure. Is there any country where eggs are sold ten to a carton? In Mexico egg cartons are 12, 18 and 24 pieces.

Quote:

And a cowboy would feel absolutely ridiculous buying a 37.854 liter hat.



Well, he could buy a less ridiculous hat to begin with :)
Donald Trump is a fucking criminal
boymimbo
boymimbo
  • Threads: 17
  • Posts: 5994
Joined: Nov 12, 2009
October 8th, 2011 at 10:36:47 AM permalink
Sigh. Agreed that the US should go metric.

And earlier on:

in America,
a cup is 8 ounces. A pint is 16 ounces. A quart is 2 pints. A gallon is 4 quarts or 128 ounces. There are 3.7854 wet liters in a gallon.

In Canada (and Great Britain), they use the imperial system
a cup is 8 ounces. A pint is 20 IMPERIAL fluid ounces. A Quart is 2 pints. A gallon is 4 quarts. A gallon of water contains 4.546.09 liters

This enables the Canadian auto manufacturers claim 20% more mpg on their cars than on the american counterparts, because a gallon in Canada contains 20% more energy.

Special.
----- You want the truth! You can't handle the truth!
thecesspit
thecesspit
  • Threads: 53
  • Posts: 5936
Joined: Apr 19, 2010
October 8th, 2011 at 10:52:06 AM permalink
Well, which Canadian car manufacturers ate those? It's all American and Japanese companies...

Canada uses american sized paper. The UK still uses miles for road distances and speeds, and pounds, feet and inches are still used for body measurements... I still think in stones and pounds for weight. Lumber is still sold as two by four, even when marked as 49 x 98mm.... My mum still cooks in pounds and ounces (measuring by volume is unusual, so the US cup system is rather odd to British housewives) but following a recipe in grams and litres isn't a problem.

So the UK is still sort of imperial, sort if metric....
"Then you can admire the real gambler, who has neither eaten, slept, thought nor lived, he has so smarted under the scourge of his martingale, so suffered on the rack of his desire for a coup at trente-et-quarante" - Honore de Balzac, 1829
Face
Administrator
Face
  • Threads: 49
  • Posts: 4448
Joined: Dec 27, 2010
October 8th, 2011 at 1:16:28 PM permalink
Quote: AZDuffman

Car engines have been quoted in liters for 30+ years now. Or is it "litres." Anyone on the board know why this is?



Import/export and motorsports is my assumption. If you're going to sell your product to the world, and the world sees size in a different way than you (litres vs cubic inches), it'd behoove you to cater to them. And motorsport is very specific. A "350", depending on the make, is actually anywhere between 348 cu/in to 355 cu/in. That can make a hp difference of up to double digits, which is a big deal. On the other hand, a 5L is a 5L is a 5L.

That reminds me of another reason I wish we'd switch. It's just more acurate, more precise. Why else would tolerences be measured in fractions of meters? Our stuff seems to be made of a jumble of english and metric pieces, depending on where they were made. If all you have is english tools, you strip the hell out of the metric bolts. Ah, but if you have a metric set, you're good to go for both of them. Metric wins.

Just switch it. We're America. We'll bitch and cry and threaten to tear down the world....and in 5 months we'll have forgotten all about it.
The opinions of this moderator are for entertainment purposes only.
EvenBob
EvenBob
  • Threads: 441
  • Posts: 28574
Joined: Jul 18, 2010
October 8th, 2011 at 1:44:53 PM permalink
Quote: buzzpaff

(who lived during the time of steam wheel boats and featured then in some of his writings).



Mark Twain worked on steamboats and made the
measurement you refer to. He was on the boats
4 years, 2 of them as a pilot. He made $250 a
month, which were tremendous wages in 1859,
its equal to 75K a year in todays money.
"It's not called gambling if the math is on your side."
Flynn
Flynn
  • Threads: 12
  • Posts: 95
Joined: Aug 18, 2011
October 8th, 2011 at 1:48:43 PM permalink
Yeah but that's because the USA were British Colonies... :-)
My favorite bet: Double Down!
AZDuffman
AZDuffman
  • Threads: 240
  • Posts: 13885
Joined: Nov 2, 2009
October 8th, 2011 at 3:58:36 PM permalink
Quote: Face

Import/export and motorsports is my assumption. If you're going to sell your product to the world, and the world sees size in a different way than you (litres vs cubic inches), it'd behoove you to cater to them. And motorsport is very specific. A "350", depending on the make, is actually anywhere between 348 cu/in to 355 cu/in. That can make a hp difference of up to double digits, which is a big deal. On the other hand, a 5L is a 5L is a 5L.

That reminds me of another reason I wish we'd switch. It's just more acurate, more precise. Why else would tolerences be measured in fractions of meters? Our stuff seems to be made of a jumble of english and metric pieces, depending on where they were made. If all you have is english tools, you strip the hell out of the metric bolts. Ah, but if you have a metric set, you're good to go for both of them. Metric wins.

Just switch it. We're America. We'll bitch and cry and threaten to tear down the world....and in 5 months we'll have forgotten all about it.



I think I asked that in an unclear way. I'm sure it as you say, to sell on the world market and just to standardize things. What I would like to know is why is it "liter" on a pop bottle but "litre" on a car?
All animals are equal, but some are more equal than others
Face
Administrator
Face
  • Threads: 49
  • Posts: 4448
Joined: Dec 27, 2010
October 8th, 2011 at 4:10:02 PM permalink
Quote: AZDuffman

I think I asked that in an unclear way. I'm sure it as you say, to sell on the world market and just to standardize things. What I would like to know is why is it "liter" on a pop bottle but "litre" on a car?



I see. Sounds like a paco question to me. But to take a whack at it, I'd say it's because "liter" is on stuff for us like Pepsi and such, so it is spelled as we spell it. Whereas "litre", as you would find to denote car displacement, which we assume was changed to cater to the world, would likewise be spelled to cater to the world. Just a guess, I actually dont ever remember seeing it spelled "litre", only the abrreviation "L".
The opinions of this moderator are for entertainment purposes only.
AZDuffman
AZDuffman
  • Threads: 240
  • Posts: 13885
Joined: Nov 2, 2009
October 8th, 2011 at 4:41:56 PM permalink
Quote: Face

I see. Sounds like a paco question to me. But to take a whack at it, I'd say it's because "liter" is on stuff for us like Pepsi and such, so it is spelled as we spell it. Whereas "litre", as you would find to denote car displacement, which we assume was changed to cater to the world, would likewise be spelled to cater to the world. Just a guess, I actually dont ever remember seeing it spelled "litre", only the abrreviation "L".



It may have been an early 1980s thing but they had it that way on cars. You may be correct and it is like "centre" instead of "center."
All animals are equal, but some are more equal than others
  • Jump to: