The UK doesn't want the Imperial system back.

[Clint]

Ah,I've worked in some places that run on the buffooneryand bullsh1t system.

 

[Agentgonzo]

Republic of Ireland changed from mph to kph in 2004.
For the life of me, I don't even remember it happening.
Completely natural though most older people would still think in imperial measurements

Oh wow. I didn't realise that. Maybe it is possible!

 

[AJA]

For me:
Small distance in metric, big distance in miles, unless I am running, then both miles and km are used interchangeably.
Weight in metric exclusively.
Volume in metric, unless it's beer or milk.
I'm against full conversion to metric, principally because we'd lose 13% of a pint of beer whilst most likely paying the same price!

 

[Bosch]

Oh wow. I didn't realise that. Maybe it is possible!

Well I still think in imperial for some stuff, sugar, butter, etc but the rest is easy.
Can't see why the British would find the jump any more difficult than the Irish

 

[Bosch]

Wonder if days,months, weeks and years will be changed just to suit some idiots who have run out of things to bleat about?

They tried to decialiamise the weeks and calendar during the French revolution.
Didn't work, for lots of reasons.
They had a ten day week and ten month year that scrubbed any hint of religion from the week or calendar.

Unlikely to happen again

 

[Donegal john]

I drive down to Dublin on a regular basis. The road signs are in mph until I get to the border then they change to km/h. I've never found it to be a difficult transition to be honest. I've never mistakenly gone from 70mph to 120mph when I get to Dundalk.

I'm of the generation that was initially taught imperial weights and measures at school then switched to metric later on. Perhaps for that reason I can use either system with reasonable comfort, as I'm sure many people can.

When I was an apprentice I had a journeyman that randomly read from both sides of his tape rule. He regularly gave me instructions like, "make a piece of conduit two feet and three and a half centimetres end to end".

With a 3.5inch running coupler at one end

 

[Donegal john]

Republic of Ireland changed from mph to kph in 2004.
For the life of me, I don't even remember it happening.
Completely natural though most older people would still think in imperial measurements

I remember the changeover and some signs went up on minor roads as 80 km and the road was a narrow one lane with grass up the middle.
I remember one near glenties that was about a hundred yards long leading to a lake and had an 80 sign on it. They went mad with signs at the start.

 

[Davegase]

https://www.gov.uk/government/consu...on-units-of-measurement-consultation-response
I didn't think for a minute that it would be any different but I'm surprised at the proportions, the metric system won by a mile! I think I'll have a pint to celebrate.

What the responses said
17) The results of our analysis showed that 98.7% of respondents were in favour of using metric units when buying or selling product, either as the primary unit of sale (maintaining status quo) or as the sole unit of sale (purely metric). 1.3% of respondents were in favour of increased use of imperial units when buying or selling products, either by increased choice between using metric and imperial units or moving to a purely imperial system.

18) The breakdown of responses into the 4 categories is as follows:

Overall preferenceNumber of responsesPercentage of responses

Status quo (keep metric as primary unit of measurement)81,86781.1%

More choice (open to increased use of imperial measures)8700.9%

Purely metric (completely metric system)17,79817.6%

Purely imperial (completely imperial system)4030.4%

Total100,938100%

I'm going to have 568.261 millilitres to celebrate

 

[Davegase]

At least liters are a standard measurement.
If a recipe is in gallons you have to ask US or Imperial !

 

[Sorcerers Apprentice]

Not to forget horsepower as a measurement of power instead of kW, and simultaneously being the displacement size of an engine

 

[DuncR]

Never worked out if the size of Wales, double decker buses or Olympic swimming pools are imperial or metric? Must ask the BBC.

 

[TonyT]

Yes its priced in metric only so as you say he converts it.

Do members think we will eventually see imperial measurements die out?

I hope so, because the current mixed system is daft. When I moved back here from Canada (completely metric since the early eighties) I brought my motorcycle with me which had a digital speedo in km only. In order to get a Type Approval Certificate enabling me to register it in the UK I had to get a speedo which showed MPH. I had to get it from Japan and it cost about £450! I was mightily peeved, especially when you consider that it didn’t need an MPH speedo to pass the MOT. In addition to that modern trucks and buses operate in km, some road signs give measurements in metric and others in feet and inches. As has been pointed out, the ROI did it about 20 years ago and Canada did it in the 80s without any significant issues.

If we did metric properly then there would be a few moans and grumbles for a while but people would accept it. After all, we decimalised the money in 1971 and if someone seriously suggested a return to £.s.d then they’d be looked upon as something of a basket case!

 

[TonyT]

Well I still think in imperial for some stuff, sugar, butter, etc but the rest is easy.
Can't see why the British would find the jump any more difficult than the Irish

Apart from British exceptionalism.

 

[MattH1973]

what is remarkable to me is that 17.something pct of people apparently voted to abolish pints and miles.....

my suspicion is that the implications of voting for "100% metric" was not clearly explained at the point the question was asked. Surely the number of people that would support such a disruptive change is way less than 1 in 5?

Quarter pound burgers would also need renaming......

 

[TonyT]

what is remarkable to me is that 17.something pct of people apparently voted to abolish pints and miles.....

my suspicion is that the implications of voting for "100% metric" was not clearly explained at the point the question was asked. Surely the number of people that would support such a disruptive change is way less than 1 in 5?

Quarter pound burgers would also need renaming......

What’s wrong with abolishing miles? And why do you think it would be so disruptive? As I said previously in relation to decimalisation of the money, it caused a few moans and grumbles but people still got used to it.

 

[TonyT]

What’s wrong with abolishing miles? And why do you think it would be so disruptive? As I said previously in relation to decimalisation of the money, it caused a few moans and grumbles but people still got used to it.

Oh, and you can still buy pints in pubs in Ireland.

 

[MattH1973]

I don't doubt people could get used to it, Tony. I just doubt that the disruption (eg changing a great many road signs, particularly considering the astronommical cost of working on infra in the UK) would ever be offset by the benefits. What do people think the benefits would actually be ?

 

[TonyT]

I don't doubt people could get used to it, Tony. I just doubt that the disruption (eg changing a great many road signs, particularly considering the astronommical cost of working on infra in the UK) would ever be offset by the benefits. What do people think the benefits would actually be ?

There’s no doubt that road signs would need to be changed which would involve a cost. How much that cost would be, I have no idea but I suspect that it wouldn’t be as much as all the billions that the blue team have wasted on dodgy PPE contracts for example. As I said before there is a mixture of signs at the moment which cause confusion. Drive down the road and you'll see some bridge heights which are in meters and some in feet and inches. In addition, I’ve seen some countdown signs on major roads which are given as 2/3 of a mile which equates to a kilometre, all but a few yards. Most of the rest of the planet uses metric so it would make sense to standardise.

 

[Sorcerers Apprentice]

One thing I find crazy about driving in the UK is the fractions of a mile to the next motorway service centre exit , all through Europe its 800mts or whatever rather than ⅞ of a mile

Sorry Tony posted at the same time as you, great minds and all that ....

 

[MattH1973]

Oh, and you can still buy pints in pubs in Ireland.

But if it "makes sense to standardise" in terms of miles why does the same logic not apply to pints ? Standardisation is not in and of itself a benefit, it is just a thing. Benefits are the things that standardisation would deliver......

Personally I am sceptical that reducing a bit of confusion around bridge heights etc would warrant such a disruptive change (which I suspect is why no serious politician proposes this) but of course each to their own. Maybe I was wrong, and that nearly 1 in 5 people would support such a change after all ?! keen to hear from others......