S.I. or British M.U.?

[John Stumbles]

It's "Cannabis" on this side of the pond, thank you!

One set of scales is enough as long as the resolution is sufficient: you just need different weights to balance them with (though something suitable for weighing several ounces is not likely to be accurate for fractions of a gram). Copper coins make a handy measure for parts of an ounce: 1p is 1/8oz, 2p = 1/4 (and save you getting nicked by Trading Standards since it's hard for them to prove you were dealing in illegal measures :-)).

And 'poor' is not necessarily the most appropriate adjective for dealers (though, like plumbers, it's not necessarily the licence to print money that the Bile Duct & Co would have us believe).

Disclaimer: "or so I've heard" :-)

[Guy King]

The message from Andy Hall contains these words:

And having your gums painted purple.

[Bob Martin]

That's the George W Bush conversion table (and pi is 3)

[Christian McArdle]

Indeed. Since 1958. The current definition of the metre, however, wasn't made until the 1980s.

Christian.

[Mary Fisher]

I thought his pi would be apple.

Mary

[Frank Erskine]

[manatbandq]

I think it's 1220 x 610 for 4 x 2 or 2440 x 1220 for 8 x 4. The defining units are still metric, however.

MBQ

[manatbandq]

Eh?

Water troughs were not used to pick up the *fuel* for steam engines.

Hint: Fuel was replenished at a *coaling* stage.

Water troughs were also used by diesel engines to replenish the water for the steam heating boilers but, again, the water was not used as fuel.

If you've ever seen a steam engine using a water trough you'll know why it's not used for scooping up petrol. The Canonball express would become the Fireball Express, LOL.

MBQ

[manatbandq]

No, but you can buy it in convenient multiples of 568ml ;-)

MBQ

[manatbandq]

The UK uses miles on all it's signposts.

I see very few UK clothes sold in cm. Most are letter sizes for men and number sizes for women. Shirts are still sold by inch collar size if not just S/M/L, etc.

MBQ

[Mary Fisher]

It seems to me that only the best (and expensive) shirts are sold by real measurement. Not many people seem to care about a perfect fit.

As far as I know bras are sold in inches (e.g.36) and cup sizes

Mary

[Mary Fisher]

as fresh as ever!

Thanks,

Mary

[<me9]

I thought the 'uddersfield was a completely different measure.

[Mary Fisher]

Please don't go there ...

Mary

[meow2222]

very creative. Works well as long as you make it an average area!

NT

[Hugo Nebula]

On Mon, 3 Apr 2006 17:19:33 +0100, a particular chimpanzee named Anna Kettle randomly hit the keyboard and produced:

I'm the opposite. When looking at estate agent's details in imperial, I had to convert it into metric to get a 'feel' for the size.

[Hugo Nebula]

On Mon, 03 Apr 2006 18:33:28 +0100, a particular chimpanzee named Andy Burns randomly hit the keyboard and produced:

Happy birthday for between the 8th to the 21st July.

We seem to be narrowing it down to the actual date at which imperial gave way to metric. I'm 41.973 years old, and the only units I recall learning at school were metric. I have picked up imperial units firstly from my parents and later dealing with older builders, etc., as part of my job. I can talk about 7" x 2" joists, knowing that I mean 170mm x 50mm, but I have to think hard to translate 7' into a 'real' measurement in my mind (Thinks: 7 x 3 / 10 = 2.1m).

[John Cartmell]

I'm in my 58th year (three score less two and a bit) and encountered metric-based measurements only in science (cgs). Metrication generally arrived in classes 5-10 years after mine. In my time you could also measure accurately with coins (anyone remember?) which also offered a remarkable history lesson.

[Andy Hall]

1 inch - Halfpenny 1 1/4 inches - Penny 3/4 inch - Sixpence 7/8 inch - Shilling 1 1/8 inch - Florin 1 1/4 inches - Half a crown It's a bit worrying when you start saying that you're in your 58th year, though. That's usually the province of old ladies proud of their longevity....

[EricP]

Same vintage but I had MKS and CGS, and Imperial.

I was pleased when it was announced that building bits were going metric, but that some idiot loon had decided on mm as the base.

A french friend visiting last summer said that he was pleased we had advanced to the mm, and the next great advances would be discovery of the cm and then the metre.