Should we bring back miles per hour?

Grayson

Zorya wrote: »

Yes, please. I am still constantly dividing by 8 and multiplying by 5 when driving, to know what speed I'm at, and holding my thumb and first finger an inch apart to get an idea how long 2.5 centimetres are in real life. I think of bags of potatoes in terms of half stones or stones, no-one will ever force me to do otherwise.

Then again, maybe that kind of constant mental arithmetic will stave off dementia, so carry on, as you were.

Oh by the way, here are some lovely weight and measure terms that are almost disappeared, nevermore to be heard - grains, scruples, drachms, fathom, pole, rod, perch, chain, furlong, league, imperial quarts and gallons, peck, bushel, chaldron. I collect old cookbooks that still use some of these terms If you don't have a scale handy, chaps, then remember 3 farthings is about the same weight as one quarter of an ounce :pac:

and barleycorns which are what shoes are measured in.

Actually, your post could be in the Bey you didn't know thread.

Ipso

Base 16 is so much better than base 10.

jimgoose

malinheader wrote: »

Don't know why they ever changed it in the first place.

Seemingly the Kaiser took our word for "Roods-per-Hogshead".

jimgoose

Ipso wrote: »

Base 16 is so much better than base 10.

It is indeed. The trouble is base-10 is so ingrained in everyone that only a very small handful of nerds even realise that there are alternatives.

tuxy

How many people that wished we kept using miles even know how many yards are in a mile?
They want to mix and match imperial and metric which is madness.
Only backward countries like Myanmar, UK, Liberia, USA still want to use imperial and even then all their scientists (the intelligent people) use metric!

arctictree

When measuring I always use whatever matches the length closest on the tape, mm or inches, doesn't really matter.

Yards are a funny one. Used for length but never for height!

DEFTLEFTHAND

tuxy wrote: »

How many people that wished we kept using miles even know how many yards are in a mile?
They want to mix and match imperial and metric which is madness.
Only backward countries like Myanmar, UK, Liberia, USA still want to use imperial and even then all their scientists (the intelligent people) use metric!

UK and US backward?

tuxy

DEFTLEFTHAND wrote: »

UK and US backward?

Yes the general population are. However the scientists and engineers are not, they use metric.

tuxy

tuxy wrote: »

Yes the general population are. However the scientists and engineers are not, they use metric.

It’s only the road signs and beer that aren’t in metric in the uk.

tuxy

Aegir wrote: »

It’s only the road signs and beer that aren’t in metric in the uk.

Yes, which makes the UK worse than Liberia. They will measure things in meters and kilometres but can't comprehend kilometre per hour!

LirW

Now imagine growing up purely metric and moving to a place where technically metric is used but everyone is using imperial.
Metric is decimal, it's much easier.

Esel

Yez all got suckered in to this thread by our old acquaintance who now seems to be in a Latin phase.

Mille passuum.

Ubi feles est?

Since cars were invented we used mph. It's the Jaysus EU's fault we use km/h.

topper75

topper75 wrote: »

We are not European.

Curious. I was walking around Louvain (that's a place in a country called Belgium) a few years ago and I came across this sign over an entrance dating from 1607, the entrance being to one of many 'Irish Colleges' established across Europe from the 16th century on:



Indeed, across continental Europe you have similar markers of the Irish people's history before another people's culture was imposed upon them in the 19th century, and attempted to break that connection in Irish minds. In the process their colonisation of the Irish mind sought to break an Irish connection with Europe that goes back well over 1000 years to early Christian days of the Irish saints like Cillian, Fiachra, Aodhán and many others as they established churches across continental Europe in the Dark Ages.

tuxy

Ubi feles est? wrote: »

Since cars were invented we used mph. It's the Jaysus EU's fault we use km/h.

We used miles because our country was occupied by an evil foreign power. Other countries who had liberated themselves from monarchies were using metric at the time of the invention of the motor car.

tuxy

People on here claiming mph is better are our equivalent to brexiteers. They long for the days of the English empire.

Beasty

Didn't know they had gone away. Where are they now?

I do have some old pounds shillings and pence. Would like to see a comeback for them. Used to be able to get a bag of crisps for less than a tanner. Won't be too long before they cost a tenner. Them's were the dayz.

Anyway I personally think we should bring back Alex Ferguson, but I'm not sure Cathy will be too happy about that...

Jakey Rolling

I heard that the Space Shuttle had five flight control computers - one main, one backup and the other three to convert measurements from Imperial to Metric and back again so's the crew could make sense of it all!

;-)

Beasty

tuxy wrote: »

They long for the days of the English empire.

British my boy, British!

And before you start, yes she's the Queen of England, but she still goes to Scotland on her hols (and Charlie has a penchant for Wales)

Ubi feles est?

Beasty wrote: »

British my boy, British!

And before you start, yes she's the Queen of England, but she still goes to Scotland on her hols (and Charlie has a penchant for Wales)

I suppose it isn't called the imperial system for nothing...

meeeeh

I grew up on metric so I prefer it anyway but I also think it's just better system. It's logical and once you know what prefix means you know exact relationship between units. You know that 1km is 1000m and so on.

sameoldname

Ubi feles est? wrote: »

Since cars were invented we used mph. It's the Jaysus EU's fault we use km/h.

The production motor car was invented in Germany in 1885. They used the metric system in Germany since 1872. So we actually were first using km/h, mph came after.

Also, the EU can't force anyone to use km/h or mph. But I doubt you care about that fact either.

tuxy

sameoldname wrote: »

Also, the EU can't force anyone to use km/h or mph. But I doubt you care about that fact either.

See what I mean, just like brexiteers along with similar misinformation about the EU.

Noveight

When it comes to distance I always think in miles. For speed I always think in kilometers, there is no MPH on my cars dashboard.

Overall I don’t think it makes much difference.

kneemos

Beasty wrote: »

British my boy, British!

And before you start, yes she's the Queen of England, but she still goes to Scotland on her hols (and Charlie has a penchant for Wales)

Their industrial revolution created the modern world and the steam engine opened up continents.

Bless them.

Moghead

topper75 wrote: »

We are not European..

But I thought Ireland was a part of the European continent?

Yer Da sells Avon

For at least 40 years, they've taught the metric system in schools, so I wouldn't see any point in bringing imperial measurements back. Those who hanker for a return to inches, feet, yards and miles should stop worrying about stuff like that... you'll all be dead soon anyway.

kneemos

Yer Da sells Avon wrote: »

For at least 40 years, they've taught the metric system in schools, so I wouldn't see any point in bringing imperial measurements back. Those who hanker for a return to inches, feet, yards and miles should stop worrying about stuff like that... you'll all be dead soon anyway.

We'll try to remain upbeat for the time left.

Esel

But of a waste posting here as the thread will probably disappear, going by past policy. Our rereg troll has seemingly ingested a Latin dictionary lately...

porsche boy

My car gets 40 rods to the hogs head, and that's the way I like it

Yer Da sells Avon

kneemos wrote: »

We'll try to remain upbeat for the time left.

Always a good idea.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zHIVeWhCMU8

Fann Linn

tuxy wrote: »

How many people that wished we kept using miles even know how many yards are in a mile?
They want to mix and match imperial and metric which is madness.
Only backward countries like Myanmar, UK, Liberia, USA still want to use imperial and even then all their scientists (the intelligent people) use metric!

First thing I learned in AnCo all those years ago.
1760 yards in a mile, coincidentally, the same number of acres in the Phoenix Park.
Simples!

Capt'n Midnight

If you do any science or engineering or anything with 'per' or scale ups then you use metric.

You can millilitre or cubic centimetre.

Water is 1 gram per ml , 1Kg per litre , one tonne per cubic meter.

Try doing that in imperial. And then do that in US imperial, the country that uses three different versions of the foot. It's no wonder the military were using Klick's in 'Nam

In the US they use gallons that are different sizes to ours. And they've 16 fluid ounces in a pint because "a pint's a pound the world around" , feckin' muppets don't even know that there's 20 fluid ounces in a real pint. Even their nearest neighbour Canada uses real pints.

But special hate for the Acre-foot. It's used to measure big amounts of water.

looksee

https://twitter.com/innesmck/status/1067132497266450433?s=19

Capt'n Midnight

kneemos wrote: »

Inches and feet were far more practical for measuring small stuff.

I use Ångström and nanometers with a preference for the latter when it's physical rather than molecular.


One inverse femtobarn corresponds to approximately 100 trillion (10^12) proton-proton collisions which is handy enough.



I can't imagine the physical constants in anything but metric. Because that would be so wrong.

Ubbquittious

I think so. Change back to the auld miles just to be awkward.

d'EU has taken away so much of our culture (boss!) and it sickens me to see the trend continuing. Now not even our timezone is safe. Feck sake

swampgas

On the science side, metric uses fundamental units of mass (kg), imperial uses fundamental units of force (pounds).

It might not seem a big deal but compared to the metric system it's unnecessarily complicated.

It leads to such abominations as the imperial unit of mass called the slug ...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slug_(unit)

Guy:Incognito

Fann Linn wrote: »

First thing I learned in AnCo all those years ago.
1760 yards in a mile, !

Yes. That's much better and easier than 1000m in a km.

How many feet in 7.5 miles?

How many metres in 7.5 km?

Work both out and see which takes longer.

The only term I can’t get out of using is yards, especially when giving directions

I mean metre but say”it’s 200 yards on the left”.

Ubi feles est?

12 inches to a foot.

3 feet to a yard.

1760 yards to a mile.

16 ounces to a pound.

Esel

Yov forgot fvrlong, and spelt ovnces and povnd wrong ...

Guy:Incognito

Ubi feles est? wrote: »

12 inches to a foot.

3 feet to a yard.

1760 yards to a mile.

16 ounces to a pound.

All geared towards quick and easy mental arithmetic.

Certainly much easier than all that multiplying or dividing by 10 for everything..............................

Cordell

jimgoose wrote: »

It is indeed. The trouble is base-10 is so ingrained in everyone that only a very small handful of nerds even realise that there are alternatives.

There are 10 kinds of people.

Junkyard Tom

MPH is faster. Kilometres per hour uses less petrol.

Esel

Cordell wrote: »

There are 10 kinds of people.

10 + 1 = 11

10 - 1 = 1

rapul

Yes I still talk miles

Frunchy

Only old farts, west brits and trump supporters want to bring back the imperial system.

Wibbs

Deleted User wrote: »

Curious. I was walking around Louvain (that's a place in a country called Belgium) a few years ago and I came across this sign over an entrance dating from 1607, the entrance being to one of many 'Irish Colleges' established across Europe from the 16th century on:

Indeed, across continental Europe you have similar markers of the Irish people's history before another people's culture was imposed upon them in the 19th century, and attempted to break that connection in Irish minds. In the process their colonisation of the Irish mind sought to break an Irish connection with Europe that goes back well over 1000 years to early Christian days of the Irish saints like Cillian, Fiachra, Aodhand many others as they established churches across continental Europe in the Dark Ages.

While there is a helluva lot in that, the break started before the 19th century. More like the 15th. The westward heading replacement of Irish as the language of learning and commerce helped hasten it.

As for Cahill's book, it's a good read, but chock full of filler, supposition and reference free claims. There's certainly a better book to be written. For a start the idea that after Rome "fell" Western Europe was some Monty Pythonesque mud soaked medieval wasteland that these saints and scholars fetched up has to be examined. It wasn't. Contrary to one of your linked articles people didn't forget to till the land. Christianity didn't suddenly vanish either. The so called Dark Ages weren't nearly so dark. Different usually nationalistic angles are brought to bear on it. EG Take St Patrick, first missionary to Ireland, only he almost certainly wasn't. Take Augustine of Canterbury who the English see as the father of the church in that land. Well he rocked up in the sixth century, which is fine, only the aforementioned Patrick a Briton, whose uncle was a bishop, was quite clearly a Christian and a classically learned one with it and he shows up a century before. There were monasteries in what is modern day France and Germany and Italy before the Irish missionaries showed up. They most certainly reinvigorated European theology and philosophy, but they weren't marching into a vacuum.

What did mark them out was that they translated and wrote down everything they could get their hands on. Not just the religious stuff like the rest of Europe in places where writing stuff down was going on. They had wide ranging tastes in literature and didn't baulk at "pagan" stuff. Not just in Latin either. They got into Greek and smattering of Hebrew too and long before the reformation wrote down stuff in local languages. This made a big difference. Secondly they gave away information and learning for free and to anyone who asked for it. This kinda freaked out the Church in Rome. Never mind their opposition to slavery, which Rome still had a ready market in. That and they wondered where the hell these island barbarians were getting all these texts from. Hell, a few years back they out of a bog in the Midlands they dug up a small volume with some pages made from Egyptian papyrus. That and pigments, some that came from as far away as Afghanistan, shows the trade networks of the so called Dark ages, were most certainly still in play.

kneemos wrote: »

Their industrial revolution created the modern world and the steam engine opened up continents.

Bless them.

That idea is as much to do with our close proximity to Britain and their take on things as anything else. The industrial revolution didn't happen in a vacuum and it didn't happen only in England, though they did kick it off. Germany and Belgium and France drove it hard too(EG Germany was leagues ahead of anywhere else in industrial chemistry). A little later on so did America.

Fann Linn

Guy:Incognito wrote: »

Yes. That's much better and easier than 1000m in a km.

How many feet in 7.5 miles?

How many metres in 7.5 km?

Work both out and see which takes longer.

Who said that it was easier?

robindch

Years back, I used to work for Irish Steel in Haulbowline. Crazy place. Beautiful. But crazy.

Anyway, some of the plant was metric and some was imperial but I'd made a decision more or less on day one in college never to use imperial if there was a choice not to. One of the Steel's draftsmen saw this as a challenge and used to drop me down drawings specially noted in feet, inches, pounds and the rest of it.

One day, he dropped in and asked me for some volumetric flow figures which I duly produced - in cubic furlongs per fortnight.

He used metric with me a lot more often after that.