this post was submitted on 13 Jul 2023
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That's what you get when you suddenly switch from imperial to metric 🤷. It's a bit more "tidier" (from what I know) in the US. They started putting up distance signs with both miles and km in some states, so people get a general idea of how they correlate to each other... which is good I guess. I mean, most of the world has a general idea how to convert a mile to a km (it's 1.6, but I use 1.5 to get a general ballpark figure), while only military personnel over there have an idea of how much of a distance a km is.
They still measure weight about anything flesh or food related in pounds though.
Canada did a sudden change and adjusted pretty well. Moved here recently and they're pretty consistently metric, though I see some use of Fahrenheit every so often, though I think that's by virtue of being close to the US.
Pretty mix in Canada, not as mix as UK but:
Pool and oven temps, height, weight, construction mesurment, cooking mesurments = imperial.
Outdoor temps, distance and speed = metric.
There's a similar chart for Canadians:
That's good 👍. I still have no idea how cold or hot it is if someone expressed temperature in Fahrenheit.
There's a wonderful BBC archive video on YouTube of a 1978 video interviewing people on the streets of Britain about switching to Kilometres. Fascinating to see the attitudes and level of knowledge about it from the time.
https://youtu.be/ykthWUdkhu0
Yeah, It did surprise me to be honest, didn't know that many people actually knew how they relate to each other, back in the day I mean. Some were opposed to changing, but still, a lot said they'd be pro for it. Interesting.
Did we watch different videos? The only person who seemed in favour sounded like he was German. One person was worried that you get less mileage in your car with kilometres. Another mentioned that Britain used to rule the world and now it’s “part of a community”, which they said “ain’t right”. Yet another said they fought 10 years in the war (?) to keep things how they are, but now people want to change everything.
All in all, the sentiment was overwhelmingly negative.
We all know the "Britannia rules the waves" guy voted brexit if he was still alive haha.
Maybe, I didn't get that cuz English is not my first language and Brits kinda talk funny, I can barely understand them, so you're probably right.
Y'know what, I actually need a typing exercise right now, so since you didn't ask for it at all, here's a transcript:
Lady in blue jacket: "Well I travel abroad a lot, well when we go abroads you don't get as much mileage too them... to it, and therefore your gonna use more petrol and then they say: 'oh you... so many miles' right? Well you're not doing that, you're not gonna do the mileage what they say you're gonna do because the kilomolametres are not the same as the mileage; it's shorter!"
Lady taking goods from a market stall and stashing them under her shawl whilst talking: "It's the Treaty as Rome as my husband would say, everything's been defs-decimalised, it's horrible, I can't bare it."
Man in blue jumpsuit: "We're losing a-all our national heritage in't we?
Presenter: "Like what?"
MBJ: "Well like, y'know, the money's all changed, the decimalisation, all the weights being changed, measurements and everything. And I think y'know, we're an island on our own y'know and let's face it; we once ruled the world didn't we? Y'know? And now we're just being part of a community. I don't agree with it at all."
Enthusiastic German guy: "It is much better. Much better, much easier."
Worried looking Irish lady: "What?"
EGG: "The kilometres"
WLIL: "What's 'the kilometers'?
EGG: "Instead of m-miles. It's goes in tens and thousands of... Thous-thousand metre is a 1 kilometre yes?"
Present: "Do you know what a kilometer is?"
London underground employee: "No."
Man with bobble on his hat: "Well 8...80...80 kilometres is 50 mile an hour."
WLIL: "Oh rubbish!"
EGG: "What the rubbish? What you talking rubbish?"
WLIL: "Rubbish! That's what it is! Why don't they leave everything alone... With their kilometre's and their... so, oh for God's sakes!"
Presenter: "But kilometres are nice and round. I mean..."
WLIL: "Oh sure."
EGG "Yes! She don't know."
WLL: "I don't! I don't want to know either!"
Cheerful lady on mobility scooter: "It doesn't much matter to me, I only go 4 miles an hour and I don't really worry very much about either!"
Former solder: "I got a little old saying, it may not be at it... any beneficent for people like you. We had a little bloke with a moustache like that. His name was Chamberlain, he was the Prime Minister. He daid 'Now we're gonna fight a war to make it a better land to live in.' That was for me, it was 19 years of age. Did 10 years in the war, come back here and now everybody wants to change the way that I went and fought for! It ain't right, I want it as it is now! What I really nearly sacrificed my life for!"
This one's like me 🤣.
- Gas prices went up again last night man...
- So? Doesn't make any difference to me, I still fill for a 20.
Different views about the same situation 🤷. It doesn't really bother me. I really can't do anything about it, so why bother sulking about it.
Still, you're right, the attitude towards changing to metric is all negative, except for the German guy, but that's understandable 😂.
Lol. Those people definitely talk funny.