If you aren't familiar with metre/meters and so on...

[Avro Arrow]

The US is also differnt in the fact that it uses the format mm-dd-yy instead of far more common dd-mm-yy

Arg, *both* of those drive me crazy. yyyy-mm-dd, people!

The calendar is a crazy one. It's pretty much fudged (as you know) to correspond to the Earth's rotation around the sun. Hence, the every-four-year leap year to keep it working. I heard somewhere once (and can't verify it) that every century will need a Febuary 30th to pick up the accumulated slack. Can any of you guys verify this?

That doesn't sound right to me. Based on the current rules, if a year is divisible by 100, it's *not* a leap year, unless it is also divisible by 400. So in three centuries out of four, you would actually not have a Feb 29 when you "normally" would. So 2000 was a leap year, since it was divisible by 400, but 1900 wasn't, and 2100 won't be. So it doesn't make sense to me that we'd somehow need to add an "extra" extra day somewhere... why wouldn't we just keep all years divisible by 100 as a leap year?

But then, I've been wrong many, many times before...

 

[LMFAOschwarz]

Based on the current rules, if a year is divisible by 100, it's *not* a leap year, unless it is also divisible by 400. So in three centuries out of four, you would actually not have a Feb 29 when you "normally" would. So 2000 was a leap year, since it was divisible by 400, but 1900 wasn't, and 2100 won't be. So it doesn't make sense to me that we'd somehow need to add an "extra" extra day somewhere... why wouldn't we just keep all years divisible by 100 as a leap year?

KIRK: Fizzbin. It's not too difficult. (begins dealing) Each player gets six cards, except for the player on the dealer's right, who gets seven.
KALO: On the right.
KIRK: Yes. The second card is turned up, except on Tuesdays.
KALO: On Tuesday.
KIRK: Oh, look what you got, two jacks. You got a half fizzbin already.
KALO: I need another jack.
KIRK: No, no. If you got another jack, why, you'd have a sralk.
KALO: A sralk?
KIRK: Yes. You'd be disqualified. You need a king and a deuce, except at night of course, when you'd need a queen and a four.
KALO: Except at night.
KIRK: Right. Oh, look at that. You've got another jack. How lucky you are! How wonderful for you. If you didn't get another jack, if you'd gotten a king, why then you'd get another card, except when it's dark, you'd give it back.
KALO: If it were dark on Tuesday.
KIRK: Yes, but what you're after is a royal fizzbin, but the odds in getting a royal fizzbin are astron. Spock, what are the odds in getting a royal fizzbin?
SPOCK: I have never computed them, Captain.
KIRK: Well, they're astronomical, believe me. Now, for the last card. We'll call it a kronk. You got that?

It's no wonder I was so bad in school...

 

[HIjol]

.

 

[LMFAOschwarz]

Liquid measures are the worst for me, whether metric/imperial/whatever. I am literally intimidated by the little measuring cups in the kitchen. However many pints in a gallon, teaspoons to cups...eek! Every time I attempt to cook something new, I feel like I might as well be taking a liquid equivalent of the Bar Exam or something!

Also, what can be more frustrating than imperial and metric sockets in a socket set all mixed up?!

 

[HIjol]

Hardly ignorant, the American measurement system is well thought and serves our needs nicely

So much better if everyone just blindly conformed.[/QUOTE]

^^THIS!!!

"Oh, beautiful, for spacious skies (measured in miles)
For amber waves of grain (measured in acres)
For purple mountain's majesty (measured in feet)
Above the fruited plain (again, in acres)

America...America.....god shed his Grace on thee (pro'ly gallons)
And crown thy good (tons?)
With brotherhood (thinkin' pounds)
From sea to shining sea (big finish, gallons)

THANKS...THANK YEW!...I"LL BE HERE ALL WEEK...

 

[LMFAOschwarz]

Thanks, HIjol...for exactly what, I'm not sure...but the extra effort is appreciated!

Even on Star Trek, they went back and forth. Balok's ship was "more than a mile in diameter", yet Nomad was "a fraction over one meter".

 

[HIjol]

Be glad we are not Vulcans...

Conversion Table

1 VuY = 252 VuD = 266.4 Earth Days (ED) = 0.73 Earth Year (EY)

1 VuM = 21 VuD = 22.2 ED = 0.79 Earth Month

1 VuD = 18 VuH = 25.3 EH = 1.058 ED

1 VuH = 54 VuMi= 84.3 EMi

1 VuMi = 1.41 EMi

1 VuMi = 54 VuS


Source:

This introduction to Vulcan calender has been compiled by T'Chai and a universally known Astronomer Prof. Astrid Ferszt.

For further reference see: The Mathematical History of the Vulcan Year - by Sterk, T'san & Paul Andrejevitch Published by "Universal University Books (UUB) 2201EY, Oxford, Old England, 3-239-AS34-00 Banbury Way, Earth, System Sol.
ISBN UUB-1-83452-34-UK-OX-342-109-4390-342019332sb.

Also: Spock's World, Diane Duane.

 

[scotpens]

The calendar is a crazy one. It's pretty much fudged (as you know) to correspond to the Earth's rotation around the sun. Hence, the every-four-year leap year to keep it working. I heard somewhere once (and can't verify it) that every century will need a February 30th to pick up the accumulated slack. Can any of you guys verify this?

That doesn't sound right to me. Based on the current rules, if a year is divisible by 100, it's *not* a leap year, unless it is also divisible by 400. So in three centuries out of four, you would actually not have a Feb 29 when you "normally" would. So 2000 was a leap year, since it was divisible by 400, but 1900 wasn't, and 2100 won't be. So it doesn't make sense to me that we'd somehow need to add an "extra" extra day somewhere... why wouldn't we just keep all years divisible by 100 as a leap year?

That's correct. Under the old Julian calendar, every year divisible by 4 was a leap year. The change in the leap-year rule was instituted in 1582 when it was discovered that the calendar was 11 days ahead of the seasons. The new Gregorian calendar is much more in sync with nature, but still not perfect. IIRC, we'll need to drop a single day to keep the calendar accurate -- but that won't happen until the year 6000-something.

 

[LMFAOschwarz]

That's correct. Under the old Julian calendar, every year divisible by 4 was a leap year. The change in the leap-year rule was instituted in 1582 when it was discovered that the calendar was 11 days ahead of the seasons. The new Gregorian calendar is much more in sync with nature, but still not perfect. IIRC, we'll need to drop a single day to keep the calendar accurate -- but that won't happen until the year 6000-something.

Or we could nudge nature into conforming to us!

Is what you speak of in any way connected to the fact that Russia, in the early 20th century, was about a month behind the rest of the world, or so I've been told?

 

[scotpens]

Is what you speak of in any way connected to the fact that Russia, in the early 20th century, was about a month behind the rest of the world, or so I've been told?

From Wiki:

In Russia the Gregorian calendar was accepted after the October Revolution (so named because it took place in October 1917 in the Julian calendar). On 24 January 1918 the Council of People's Commissars issued a Decree that Wednesday, 31 January 1918, was to be followed by Thursday, 14 February 1918, thus dropping 13 days from the calendar.

. . . Other countries of Eastern Europe, most notably Orthodox countries, adopted the Gregorian calendar in the 1910s or early 1920s. The last country of Eastern Orthodox Europe to adopt the Gregorian calendar was Greece with Wednesday, 15 February 1923, being followed by Thursday, 1 March 1923.

 

[LMFAOschwarz]

Thanks, scotpens. The October Revolution is what I was thinking of, but my memory capacity lately is about the equivalent of a 2 1/2 floppy disc!

 

[AustNerevar]

I'm sure it would take much longer than just two decades. At least three, probably four.

Seriously, 40 YEARS to learn how to multiply and divide by 10 and figure out where to put the decimals?

Yeah, because you know it's as simple as that.

We aren't talking about teaching one person how to use the metric system. We're talking about socially and professionally converting an entire culture (a very large culture, at that) away from a measurement system that has been ingrained into society for hundreds of years.

 

[MacLeod]

Liquid measures are the worst for me, whether metric/imperial/whatever. I am literally intimidated by the little measuring cups in the kitchen. However many pints in a gallon, teaspoons to cups...eek! Every time I attempt to cook something new, I feel like I might as well be taking a liquid equivalent of the Bar Exam or something!

Also, what can be more frustrating than imperial and metric sockets in a socket set all mixed up?!

Wouldn't recipes that gave you weight be easier then you could use scales?

and it's 8pts to the Imperial Gallon.

 

[Bad Thoughts]

Liquid measures are the worst for me, whether metric/imperial/whatever. I am literally intimidated by the little measuring cups in the kitchen. However many pints in a gallon, teaspoons to cups...eek! Every time I attempt to cook something new, I feel like I might as well be taking a liquid equivalent of the Bar Exam or something!

Also, what can be more frustrating than imperial and metric sockets in a socket set all mixed up?!

Wouldn't recipes that gave you weight be easier then you could use scales?

and it's 8pts to the Imperial Gallon.

More accurate, yes, but it is easier and faster if you can estimate a volume on sight rather than figure out a weight without a scale. Indeed, years of watching cooking programs and downloading recipes convinces me that chefs underestimate how much salt and oil/butter they use when writing down their recipes. Often more is used (and sometimes required).

However, the same logic doesn't apply to baking.

 

[MacLeod]

I'm sure it would take much longer than just two decades. At least three, probably four.

Seriously, 40 YEARS to learn how to multiply and divide by 10 and figure out where to put the decimals?

Yeah, because you know it's as simple as that.

We aren't talking about teaching one person how to use the metric system. We're talking about socially and professionally converting an entire culture (a very large culture, at that) away from a measurement system that has been ingrained into society for hundreds of years.

But as has been pointed out Australia did it, the UK did it. It just takes 2-3 decades for it work it's way through. It's not an overnight process. Size has nothing to do with it, and remember the Imperial system came from the UK surely it was just as ingrained in the UK yet the UK managed to adopt it (for most things)

For example you say set a date i.e. 31-12-2025 as the last date fruit and veg can be sold by the lb from the 01-01-2025 it has to be sold by the Kg. That gives buiness over a decade to introduce new scales or reprogram existing ones.

 

[HIjol]

...still...

I would rather order a "Pint!" than "473.176473 ml of Guinness, please..."
I can visualize teaspoons and tablespoons...not so much with 40ml and 120 ml
I think it is cooler to say, "...I am about a quart low..." Than "...I am about a liter low..."

Plus, the Who's "I Can See For Miles" would have to be changed to "I Can See For Kilometers"...just doesn't seem to have the same feel..."Oh, Yeah..."

And, lastly, that old Biblical Favorite, "Spare the rod, spoil the Child" would come out as "Spare the 25 sq. meters, spoil the Child"...and you will get NOwhere with that...

Came across this gem in Wiki Answers:

An English Butt is 2 hogsheads of 54 Imperial gallons gallons each or 127.9 gallons (i.e., a U.K. Butt is slightly larger than a U.S. Butt)

 

[T'Girl]

But as has been pointed out Australia did it, the UK did it. It just takes 2-3 decades for it work it's way through. It's not an overnight process. Size has nothing to do with it, and remember the Imperial system came from the UK surely it was just as ingrained in the UK yet the UK managed to adopt it (for most things)

Bear in mnd you're talking about a culture that doesn't alway do something simply because the government tells them too. If that were the case, America would have adopted the metric system in the late seventies.

We also would have implimented national health care in the mid-nineties, and sent troops into Syria a few months ago. Just because the government say "do this", doesn't mean the American people are going to listen.

 

[Lance]

^ Very true. I do sometimes think that's both a curse and very much a blessing of America. But I do honestly love that Americans have this ingrained, cultural distrust of their government ever telling them what to do. Here in Australia we do too (don't even get me STARTED on the public sentiment against the current government!) but ultimately we have a culture of just doing what we're told. We'll grumble a bit about it for a while, stamp our feet up and down and protest, but eventually we will always accept whatever They tell us to do. We have no spirit of revolution in our blood, see.

And having said what I've said in defence of the Metric system, as part of the generation who grew up entirely using it, I have found myself falling into using Feet as a measurement from time to time as well. As in, literally feet. My own feet. It's amazing how convienient it can be to simply use ones own feet as measuring tools when doing something in DIY, etc. I find trying to figure out those kinds of things in terms of metres and centimetres to be a bit of a drag when knocking something up in the garage, but if I measure things up against my own footsteps then I find I can usually muddle through. So obviously Imperial still has some merit.

 

[Timo]

I would rather order a "Pint!" than "473.176473 ml of Guinness, please..."

You mean you wouldn't prefer to order half a liter of Guinness?

Also, you get better kilometerage with your old car than you get mileage.

(Although many metric countries for some reason tend to count how much fuel you use per kilometer, not how many kilometers you get from a set amount of fuel. I guess the idea hereabouts is that you spend gas every day on trips of insignificant length and want to keep tabs on how much money that takes, while in a bigger country you need to know how much to buy in order to reach a destination...)

Timo Saloniemi

 

[MacLeod]

...still...

I would rather order a "Pint!" than "473.176473 ml of Guinness, please..."
I can visualize teaspoons and tablespoons...not so much with 40ml and 120 ml
I think it is cooler to say, "...I am about a quart low..." Than "...I am about a liter low..."

Plus, the Who's "I Can See For Miles" would have to be changed to "I Can See For Kilometers"...just doesn't seem to have the same feel..."Oh, Yeah..."

And, lastly, that old Biblical Favorite, "Spare the rod, spoil the Child" would come out as "Spare the 25 sq. meters, spoil the Child"...and you will get NOwhere with that...

Came across this gem in Wiki Answers:

An English Butt is 2 hogsheads of 54 Imperial gallons gallons each or 127.9 gallons (i.e., a U.K. Butt is slightly larger than a U.S. Butt)

But I in the UK could walk into a pub and order a pint or go to the shop and buy a pint of milk(568ml).

You can't visualise them because you aren't used to using them that way, a teaspoon = 5ml a tablespoon = 15ml. But when cooking for example don't you just use the relevent spoon called for? Do you actually need to know how many ml's it is?

Saying you are a litre low only sounds weird because it is different from how you are used to phrasing it, given time it would sound perfectly normal.

I can see for miles is a figure of speach it wouldn't have to be changed, your meaning would still be clear.