adrianc
Member of DD Central
Posts: 8,948
Likes: 4,787
|
Post by adrianc on Feb 18, 2021 14:52:10 GMT
BBC reporting 'a man in his 30s with no underlying health conditions was offered a Covid vaccine after an NHS error mistakenly listed him as just 6.2cm in height'.
Nice to see somebody has their finger on the pulse
The thing I found most depressing about the story is that somebody in his 30s is primarily using dibnah measurements, not metric. At this rate, we will NEVER complete it, and will be perennially in this half-way house of a mixture. Baffled by the insistence of the yanks on being different to the entire rest of the world, but simultaneously baffled by the entire rest of the world... (What is a "floz", anyway?)
|
|
Greenwood2
Member of DD Central
Posts: 4,241
Likes: 2,686
|
Post by Greenwood2 on Feb 18, 2021 15:22:49 GMT
BBC reporting 'a man in his 30s with no underlying health conditions was offered a Covid vaccine after an NHS error mistakenly listed him as just 6.2cm in height'.
Nice to see somebody has their finger on the pulse
The thing I found most depressing about the story is that somebody in his 30s is primarily using dibnah measurements, not metric. At this rate, we will NEVER complete it, and will be perennially in this half-way house of a mixture. Baffled by the insistence of the yanks on being different to the entire rest of the world, but simultaneously baffled by the entire rest of the world... (What is a "floz", anyway?) In work mode I'm in metres, litres, kilograms etc. In home mode I'm feet and inches, pounds and ounces and pints. If a floz is an 'old money' measure it's a fluid ounce, 20 UK fluid ounces to a pint, the US is different!
|
|
adrianc
Member of DD Central
Posts: 8,948
Likes: 4,787
|
Post by adrianc on Feb 18, 2021 15:39:48 GMT
I may be presuming, Greenwood2 , but you are somewhat older than the person in question...? The journo in question is 32. He would have left school around 2006... This public information film on metrication was released more than a decade and a half before he was born... www.youtube.com/watch?v=f-xwieNBcNUThe Government's Hodgson Committee said "The real problem facing Great Britain is not whether to adhere either to the Imperial or to the metric system, but whether to maintain two legal systems or to abolish the Imperial." a mere quarter century before that film... 72 years ago now.
We have a friend in the village, born around the same time as that Hodgson Committee report, who still refers to the "disaster of decimalisation". And means it. I take great pleasure in reminding him it was before I was born.
|
|
Greenwood2
Member of DD Central
Posts: 4,241
Likes: 2,686
|
Post by Greenwood2 on Feb 18, 2021 16:02:07 GMT
I may be presuming, Greenwood2 , but you are somewhat older than the person in question...?The journo in question is 32. He would have left school around 2006... This public information film on metrication was released more than a decade and a half before he was born... www.youtube.com/watch?v=f-xwieNBcNUThe Government's Hodgson Committee said "The real problem facing Great Britain is not whether to adhere either to the Imperial or to the metric system, but whether to maintain two legal systems or to abolish the Imperial." a mere quarter century before that film... 72 years ago now.
We have a friend in the village, born around the same time as that Hodgson Committee report, who still refers to the "disaster of decimalisation". And means it. I take great pleasure in reminding him it was before I was born. You could be right . We were taught both at school (very confusing), but it had all gone metric at university, often with imperial conversion in brackets. The guy in question may have grown up in a house (like mine) where imperial was commonly still used, or maybe it was just a good story.
|
|
adrianc
Member of DD Central
Posts: 8,948
Likes: 4,787
|
Post by adrianc on Feb 18, 2021 17:36:16 GMT
...or maybe it was just a good story. <faints in horror at having faith in local journalism so badly shaken>
|
|
michaelc
Member of DD Central
Posts: 4,842
Likes: 2,756
|
Post by michaelc on Feb 18, 2021 19:11:20 GMT
Suspect it will be a mixture but predominantly metric for a very long time.
I can't see miles or pints going away any time soon?
"Five hundred and sixty-eight point two six mililiters of your Best Bitter please...."
|
|
agent69
Member of DD Central
Posts: 5,586
Likes: 4,181
|
Post by agent69 on Feb 18, 2021 19:21:18 GMT
The thing I found most depressing about the story is that somebody in his 30s is primarily using dibnah measurements, not metric. At this rate, we will NEVER complete it, and will be perennially in this half-way house of a mixture. Baffled by the insistence of the yanks on being different to the entire rest of the world, but simultaneously baffled by the entire rest of the world... (What is a "floz", anyway?) In work mode I'm in metres, litres, kilograms etc. In home mode I'm feet and inches, pounds and ounces and pints. If a floz is an 'old money' measure it's a fluid ounce, 20 UK fluid ounces to a pint, the US is different! In my 40 years in the construction industry I only ever built one scheme using imperial measurements (the rather grandly named Paradise Circus in Birmingham circa 1978). During my later years I routinely confused young enginers by using metric and imperial dimensions in the same sentence (for example a 200mm pipe requiring 6 inches of concrete surround).
|
|
IFISAcava
Member of DD Central
Posts: 3,664
Likes: 2,988
|
Post by IFISAcava on Feb 18, 2021 19:30:16 GMT
Suspect it will be a mixture but predominantly metric for a very long time. I can't see miles or pints going away any time soon? "Five hundred and sixty-eight point two six mililiters of your Best Bitter please...." Just ask for a large (or half a litre if you must) It'll be 500 ml in a glass with the line well below the brim, so it'll contain the same amount as the usual pint poured with a head and not to the brim. Miles and pints are indeed the final vestiges, along perhaps with height in feet and inches and weight in stone, but as everything in healthcare is SI the latter two are slowly changing (and I for example don't know my weight in anything other than kilos). I also think automatically in km/100s of metres for driving distances, mm/cm/m for smaller distances, litres for volumes, grams and kg for all weights, and C for temperature (truly, I have no idea about Farenheit without converting it back to Celsius). I think it is a certain type of person that wants to stick to Imperial measures - not a criticism, but an observation - and if one excludes the over 60s who grew up with Imperial, the younger people who insist on using it are making a deliberate statement, which I suspect it isn't too far away from the B issue. You really have to make an effort for most things to avoid SI units.
|
|
IFISAcava
Member of DD Central
Posts: 3,664
Likes: 2,988
|
Post by IFISAcava on Feb 18, 2021 19:36:34 GMT
The thing I found most depressing about the story is that somebody in his 30s is primarily using dibnah measurements, not metric. At this rate, we will NEVER complete it, and will be perennially in this half-way house of a mixture. Baffled by the insistence of the yanks on being different to the entire rest of the world, but simultaneously baffled by the entire rest of the world... (What is a "floz", anyway?) In work mode I'm in metres, litres, kilograms etc. In home mode I'm feet and inches, pounds and ounces and pints. If a floz is an 'old money' measure it's a fluid ounce, 20 UK fluid ounces to a pint, the US is different! a floz is so alien I don't even know what it would be in ml. I'd have to use my general knowledge that it's a 20th of a pint, divide 567 by 20 and get to it being a bit less than 30 ml. (and then look up that it is actually 568 ml in a pint) I would really go further and mandate metric/SI everywhere, with the added advantage that it would really annoy the (mainly) older generation who have given us this Horlicks of a Brexit.
|
|
Greenwood2
Member of DD Central
Posts: 4,241
Likes: 2,686
|
Post by Greenwood2 on Feb 18, 2021 19:41:30 GMT
Suspect it will be a mixture but predominantly metric for a very long time. I can't see miles or pints going away any time soon? "Five hundred and sixty-eight point two six mililiters of your Best Bitter please...." You still get meat in 454g often, ie, about a pound which suits me as 500g is a bit too much for most of my purposes or I have to get multiple packets and re package to a pound.
|
|
|
Post by dan1 on Feb 18, 2021 19:44:36 GMT
This discussion of metric/imperial brings us nicely around to NASA and Mars.... solarsystem.nasa.gov/missions/mars-climate-orbiter/in-depth/Note the use of "English" units as distinct from "imperial". Is there sensitivity regarding the use of the word "imperial" in this context? Genuine question, I don't want to provoke another tribal discussion.
|
|
IFISAcava
Member of DD Central
Posts: 3,664
Likes: 2,988
|
Post by IFISAcava on Feb 18, 2021 19:52:55 GMT
This discussion of metric/imperial brings us nicely around to NASA and Mars.... solarsystem.nasa.gov/missions/mars-climate-orbiter/in-depth/Note the use of "English" units as distinct from "imperial". Is there sensitivity regarding the use of the word "imperial" in this context? Genuine question, I don't want to provoke another tribal discussion. I have never heard them being called "English" units before and fundamentally object to that name given that for most things the English use SI units, and because they were if anything British. But I'd object to them being called British too, as you might predict.
|
|
Greenwood2
Member of DD Central
Posts: 4,241
Likes: 2,686
|
Post by Greenwood2 on Feb 18, 2021 19:56:29 GMT
In work mode I'm in metres, litres, kilograms etc. In home mode I'm feet and inches, pounds and ounces and pints. If a floz is an 'old money' measure it's a fluid ounce, 20 UK fluid ounces to a pint, the US is different! a floz is so alien I don't even know what it would be in ml. I'd have to use my general knowledge that it's a 20th of a pint, divide 567 by 20 and get to it being a bit less than 30 ml. (and then look up that it is actually 568 ml in a pint) I would really go further and mandate metric/SI everywhere, with the added advantage that it would really annoy the (mainly) older generation who have given us this Horlicks of a Brexit. Fluid ounces are rarely used. I usually think that for most purposes a litre is about 2 pints, 100 grams is about 4 ounces. If you need it more exact look it up. And there are about 2.2 pound to a kilo, if you want to know how long to cook a turkey. A lot of older recipes are in imperial.
|
|
IFISAcava
Member of DD Central
Posts: 3,664
Likes: 2,988
|
Post by IFISAcava on Feb 18, 2021 19:57:03 GMT
This discussion of metric/imperial brings us nicely around to NASA and Mars.... solarsystem.nasa.gov/missions/mars-climate-orbiter/in-depth/Note the use of "English" units as distinct from "imperial". Is there sensitivity regarding the use of the word "imperial" in this context? Genuine question, I don't want to provoke another tribal discussion. Talking of Mars, I have to decide whether to watch the landing or Arsenal - hard to know which will be the most likely to show any excitement.
|
|
IFISAcava
Member of DD Central
Posts: 3,664
Likes: 2,988
|
Post by IFISAcava on Feb 18, 2021 19:58:22 GMT
a floz is so alien I don't even know what it would be in ml. I'd have to use my general knowledge that it's a 20th of a pint, divide 567 by 20 and get to it being a bit less than 30 ml. (and then look up that it is actually 568 ml in a pint) I would really go further and mandate metric/SI everywhere, with the added advantage that it would really annoy the (mainly) older generation who have given us this Horlicks of a Brexit. Fluid ounces are rarely used. I usually think that for most purposes a litre is about 2 pints, 100 grams is about 4 ounces. If you need it more exact look it up. And there are about 2.2 pound to a kilo, if you want to know how long to cook a turkey. A lot of older recipes are in imperial.They would have to be pretty bleeding old I should think! (or American, in which case they introduce "cups", at which point I implode).
|
|