People who use the Imperial system of measurement.
Why do some countries or organisations stick to this archaic system whereby you have to calculate how many smaller units make up a bigger unit? And it differs depending on what quality you are measuring.

For weight we have 16 ounces make 1 pound, 14 pounds make 1 stone, and 160 stones in 1 ton. Then for distance we have 1 inch (which is divided into 16ths), 12 inches make 1 foot, 3 feet make 1 yard, 1760 (wtf?) yards make up 1 mile!

Can we not just stick to moving the decimal point up/down or would that be too hard for all the people who grew up in the bronze age? I really don't understand peoples arguments for it, OK you may have been educated with this system and had to use it before the government change (most) things into metric, but ffs we don't count in binary in our heads, so why is simply 1/1000th, 1, 1000, so hard to understand? It's how we were taught to count! When we were 2! Before we even knew what a measurement was!
(Panzerfaust, Mon 14 Oct 2013, 22:46, 58 replies)

So what I'm taking away from this is that you're one of the reasons the UK and USA scored so poorly in numeracy.

( Dr. Shambolic je suis charlie, Mon 14 Oct 2013, 22:51, closed)

What test was this?
If it was a test based around using this system of measurement with no guidance then yes, I would do very poorly.
(Panzerfaust, Tue 15 Oct 2013, 2:17, closed)

what's a third of a meter?

( mictoboy shitting in your cunt since, Mon 14 Oct 2013, 22:51, closed)

One foot one and three eighths.

( Dr. Shambolic je suis charlie, Mon 14 Oct 2013, 23:03, closed)

Just a shade shy of an ell

(unclestinky, Mon 14 Oct 2013, 23:13, closed)

My cock.
( Happy Phantom has been to Hastings, Brighton, and Eastbourne too, Mon 14 Oct 2013, 23:35, closed)

fifteen matteryous.

( drimble he'd been white, he'd been black, Mon 14 Oct 2013, 23:41, closed)

Isn;t that two thirds of a gottanorespect?

(andythepieman Is surfing the waves of indifference on, Wed 16 Oct 2013, 15:28, closed)

333.3r mm

(Panzerfaust, Tue 15 Oct 2013, 2:35, closed)

1/3m ?

( Another_tragic_case wished he hadn't eaten all the cake, Tue 15 Oct 2013, 10:11, closed)

You missed out cwt.
and those of us brought up with this archaic system have no trouble at all converting to metric because we were taught both systems at once. The complaints are from those, like yourself , who struggle with maths as opposed to moving a decimal point.
Also the system we learn becomes embedded over our time as a kid (surprisingly even old people used to be kids).
So I can visualise a mile (better not say furlong) a yard or 70 degrees Fahrenheit but if it's presented in metric I have to do a conversion in my head
Don't worry about us though. Back in the day we were taught mental arithmetic and many of us can add up a column of figures quicker than a calculator, metric or imperial.
( edjogs Collared doves are shit., Mon 14 Oct 2013, 23:44, closed)

It's especially impressive
considering you'd all been on l/s/d for so long.
( wynoh kills threads by his mere presence, Mon 14 Oct 2013, 23:57, closed)

Try as I might, I just can't convert from Fahrenheit to meters.

( monster munch person, man, woman... camera... TV?, Tue 15 Oct 2013, 0:11, closed)

metres

( Locus213 Slightly to the left of Bakunin, Tue 15 Oct 2013, 8:52, closed)

I can't do that, either.

( monster munch person, man, woman... camera... TV?, Tue 15 Oct 2013, 9:31, closed)

The issue wasn't "I struggle with maths"
That's a different answer to a different qotw! But my issue it's with organisations (and I include governments) Who have this as their system of measurement. Why make things harder than they have to be? We don't use shillings etc anymore for that reason.
(Panzerfaust, Tue 15 Oct 2013, 2:25, closed)

I always liked a hundred weight
because it is 110 lbs.
Kind of like a baker's dozen.
(the other guy not the one that gave you coochie warts, Tue 15 Oct 2013, 15:19, closed)

You've lost 2lb.
Not quite slimmer of the week but well done.
( edjogs Collared doves are shit., Tue 15 Oct 2013, 20:58, closed)

Oooh! I've been ignored.
Says seven replies...but when I pop in to have a look, there are only three to read! Fascinating.

And with all the excitement this has caused, I've forgotten the point I was going to make about the metric system.

Something about bananas I think.
( Albert Marshmallow is a completely irredeemable cunt, Mon 14 Oct 2013, 23:55, closed)

Fuck off back to imgur.

(s0ckpuppet logging out to reply to you if you're not careful, Tue 15 Oct 2013, 0:26, closed)

I don't get Americans
who say "I just don't understand the metric system", but they can understand dollars and cents.
(M61A1 CUPID- STUNTS, Tue 15 Oct 2013, 7:04, closed)

They don't use the meteric system either.

( Infidel , shit and wrong, Tue 15 Oct 2013, 11:58, closed)

Yeah that was kind of the point I was getting at.
It is surely easier to use a system which at least has a base number
(Panzerfaust, Tue 15 Oct 2013, 12:31, closed)

If Americans can get pounds, feet, Farenheit, 24 hour days & 360 degree circles
why can't the OP.
(the other guy not the one that gave you coochie warts, Tue 15 Oct 2013, 15:24, closed)

It's not about wether or not you "get them"
It is a system of numbers which has no base. Therefore it's irrational.
(Panzerfaust, Tue 15 Oct 2013, 20:00, closed)

Ok so get rid of everything British that's irrational.
There'll only be you left.
( edjogs Collared doves are shit., Tue 15 Oct 2013, 21:00, closed)

I'm not even British so it would be an empty void!
Still, it would be a simpler place.
(Panzerfaust, Wed 16 Oct 2013, 1:57, closed)

yes, how irrational to hold on to a system which has evolved through hundreds of years to suit its end-users' needs,
rather than throwing it away in favour of an arbitrary system dreamt up by some committee of bureaucrats in 18th century France
( The Mock TurtIe ™ --- Thinks you are a cunt, on, Tue 15 Oct 2013, 22:04, closed)

Come on, that was poor.
Slavery suited it's users needs. People in this country didn't always speak English, or use the latin alphabet. Using horses as a form of transport was the best way to get around for millenia. Are you saying we should just ignore any improvements or additions humanity makes? Bah, houses! Living in caves was good enough for early man etc etc...
(Panzerfaust, Wed 16 Oct 2013, 2:03, closed)

whoo whoo, all aboard the hyperbole train!

( The Mock TurtIe ™ --- Thinks you are a cunt, on, Wed 16 Oct 2013, 19:07, closed)

Tickets please

(Panzerfaust, Wed 16 Oct 2013, 22:45, closed)

Piss off Farage, noone cares.

( Amorous Badger NAKED BEA ARTHUR PHOTOS 4U, Tue 15 Oct 2013, 8:07, closed)

ask a wood merchant for some
4" by 5.08cm it ill blow their mind
(sittingduck Attention seeking, bullshitting fuck-knuckle, Tue 15 Oct 2013, 8:59, closed)

Our local timber merchant sells imperial measure unfinished timber by the metre.

( Dr. Shambolic je suis charlie, Tue 15 Oct 2013, 9:29, closed)

A workmate was given a tape measure with metric on one edge and imperial on the other
and asked to measure a piece of machinery so the transport company would have dimensions. Apparently the road roller was 3 metres and 10 inches long.
(M61A1 CUPID- STUNTS, Tue 15 Oct 2013, 9:41, closed)

I like this.

(s0ckpuppet logging out to reply to you if you're not careful, Tue 15 Oct 2013, 10:24, closed)

I like his style.

( monster munch person, man, woman... camera... TV?, Tue 15 Oct 2013, 10:38, closed)

Most do
Cross-section imperial (with metric equivalent), length metric. Due to older houses being built imperial and needing imperial replacements.
(localboy purveyor of pisspoor puns, Tue 15 Oct 2013, 10:40, closed)

All of Europe does
You can't buy 2m of wood in Polish B&Q. You can get 1.8 or 2.1m through, which is oddly enough 7 or 8 feet.
( Grrrmachine the indifference engine, Tue 15 Oct 2013, 12:03, closed)

So
All of Europe Poland.
(Panzerfaust, Tue 15 Oct 2013, 12:36, closed)

Applies to any Uk merchant.
Timber is sold in length multiples of 0.3m
Feet you see.
Ok pedants, 0.305m
( edjogs Collared doves are shit., Tue 15 Oct 2013, 21:03, closed)

Unit systems (as in imperial, metric, cgs, whatever) are not an issue.
That's just a case of basic conversion. It's not particularly any more difficult or easy to have 16 things in another thing than it is to have 10.

Gravitational unit systems are what you need to worry about, so I think we can all join together in slating the American Unit system.
( the mighty badger Aphrodite, on a bar stool, by your side, Tue 15 Oct 2013, 10:45, closed)

I'd argue that multiplying and dividing by 10
is a lot simpler than doing so by 16.
( monster munch person, man, woman... camera... TV?, Tue 15 Oct 2013, 10:49, closed)

Arguably on a day to day basis you totally have a point.
In so far as doing any of this stuff in your head.

However, in the reality of unit conversion in engineering it doesn't make that much of a difference. As opposed to having to introduce an inverse graviational constant into every single fucking law of newtonian mechanics, which does.
( the mighty badger Aphrodite, on a bar stool, by your side, Tue 15 Oct 2013, 13:14, closed)

This must explain why I have such difficulty in putting up a set of shelves.

( monster munch person, man, woman... camera... TV?, Tue 15 Oct 2013, 13:29, closed)

I just love
pound-mass and slugs.
Luckily most engineering calculation involves tables and programs.
Basic calculations are something to harass students with.
(the other guy not the one that gave you coochie warts, Tue 15 Oct 2013, 15:32, closed)

No, it's the fact that it's 16 (or 20) of one, 14 of another, 220 of a third, 36 of something else and 1760 of yet another

(moon monkey is busy making memories worth repressing, Tue 15 Oct 2013, 10:53, closed)

Yes
Exactly this.
(Panzerfaust, Tue 15 Oct 2013, 12:37, closed)

I'd agree with you if you were doing this shit in your head or if you had to remember them
but in reality these days in most scenarios, no-one does, and no-one does.

When I lecture this stuff I do fall down in favour of the boy Panzer, in that imperial/US units are a bit of a pain compared to SI. But the conversions are really only a minimal inconvenience when everything is done with a computer.
( the mighty badger Aphrodite, on a bar stool, by your side, Tue 15 Oct 2013, 13:18, closed)

It's true you would never have to really work them out
But it would be easier to do a miscalculation
(Panzerfaust, Tue 15 Oct 2013, 20:03, closed)

Ever since the Mars Polar Lander crashed expsensively and embarassingly into Mars
...because one part was programmed using the obsolete "imperial" units while the rest was in metric, I've noticed a definite shift toward metric, at least as far as American science TV goes.

It amuses me that the American people think of themselves as the most advanced nation on Earth, but still want their car to do "14 rods to the hogshead", as Grandpa Simpson so eloquently put it.
(moon monkey is busy making memories worth repressing, Tue 15 Oct 2013, 10:51, closed)

Mars Climate Orbiter
:)
(Deligrams, Tue 15 Oct 2013, 12:19, closed)

Climate orbiter.
I use it as an example in lectures, but not specifically as a flaw in units systems, but of the importance of communication and proper unit conversion.
( the mighty badger Aphrodite, on a bar stool, by your side, Tue 15 Oct 2013, 13:21, closed)

Countries who don't use the metric system


(sittingduck Attention seeking, bullshitting fuck-knuckle, Tue 15 Oct 2013, 16:23, closed)

It's like NATO for hillbillies.

(Panzerfaust, Tue 15 Oct 2013, 20:02, closed)

not true for the USA, their weights have to be declared in metric AND imperial units

( The Mock TurtIe ™ --- Thinks you are a cunt, on, Tue 15 Oct 2013, 22:05, closed)

I'd rather have a pint of beer
Than 500ml
(andythepieman Is surfing the waves of indifference on, Wed 16 Oct 2013, 15:30, closed)