Omega Owners Forum
Chat Area => General Discussion Area => Topic started by: STEMO on 14 March 2017, 17:11:41
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Just been explaining to the teenager about imperial measurements. You know, 16 ounces in a pound, 14 pounds in a stone, 112 lbs in a hundredweight (cwt), 20 cwt in a ton, 2240 lbs in a ton, 2420 sq yds in an acre etc.
He told me it was an absolute mess and he was glad he didn't have to know it.
Then I explained how, after brexit............. :) :) :) :)
I think he knew I was just joshing...... :)
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It was a chuffing mess, I guess anybody under about 45-50 would be mostly metric (In know I am!)
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It was a chuffing mess, I guess anybody under about 45-50 would be mostly metric (In know I am!)
Yeah? Well stop going on about mpg then. ;D
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It was a chuffing mess, I guess anybody under about 45-50 would be mostly metric (In know I am!)
Yeah? Well stop going on about mpg then. ;D
Or 16"/17" wheels with a metric width
Or mph speed limits ;)
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I guess 1760 yds to a mile is also still relevant. It's metric inches and metric miles I struggle with although we accept it without thinking on odometers. Road signs by law also have to display in yards/miles to be enforceable I think.
My generation learned both systems and I'm teaching my daughter both as she wants to be an architect and needs to understand size and proportion pre 1970s.
Also GM seat belt lower mounting bolts are imperial at least up to 2004 on my astra. 11/16 or 13/16 , can't recall which. thank goodness for the USA !!!
There are more things that only work in imperial if you want them to make sense, mainly related to sound waves and pitch which are nonsense in metric. We should know and understand both systems then measure everything in mm.
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The Hubble telescope was a tragic example of working with mixed measurements - but they were American! ;D
Ron.
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It was a chuffing mess, I guess anybody under about 45-50 would be mostly metric (In know I am!)
I think you're right on both points.
Anyone who has explained imperial to a purely metric user will soon wonder why it's still so bloody common!
FAQs include:
Why are there 16ounces in a pound, but 20fl oz in a pint? Answer - it seemed like a good idea at the time?
So there's no good reason why there are 3 feet in a yard, but 8 pints in a gallon? Answer - that's right
How can there not be a direct relation between volume and length measurements? Answer - because we like it that way
Why are there so many units of power? Answer - yes.
And my particular favourite:
How much energy does it take to boil a room-temperature gallon of water? Answer - go opps yourself!
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Telling a girlie that if she plays her cards right she'll have 9 inches to play with later, is much more descriptive than telling her she'll have 228.6mm! :)
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This is SUCH a big bee in my bonnet. It is simply bonkers that we still use anything non-metric, whether it's yards, feet, inches, Ounces, pounds, stones, hundredweight whatever. My late father in law was a chippy, and he used to talk in something like three sixteenths of an inch etc. Yes I know that MPG and Miles and various others are in common use, but that doesn't make them right or even logical. We'd get used to change in the same way as we got used to monetary decimalisation.
Of course, the main reason much of this hangs on is because the Americans use them, Ah not quite, many of their measurements are actually different to ours although they have the same name ! Even more nuts.
I have an american made Guitar. I needed an allen key for the bridge saddle, I didn't have one. It turns out that the correct size is 0.050 (Metric) of an Inch (imperial). The same but cheaper model of guitar made in Far East have metric. Arrgggg I found a company that imports the keys. In medical devices metric parts of an imperial measurement is quite common.
I will now retire while the dinosaurs tear me apart ;D
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Anyone nipping out for a 568.261248ml later? ;D
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I'm not sure that I can explain this even to myself, but I have been in electronics engineering/radio all my working life and was totally happy with the MKS (formerly CGS) system of measurement, and yet in "civilian" life I have to convert wood sizes, etc., back to Imperial to visualise what I am dealing with! ::)
Ron.
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What's more modern than an iPad or iPhone? Screen size in inches, please. And televisions too.
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What's more modern than an iPad or iPhone? Screen size in inches, please. And televisions too.
Yep. Bonkers isn't it. Ah of course . . . . . Americans
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It turns out that the correct size is 0.050 (Metric) of an Inch (imperial) ....
That'll be 50 thou then 😉
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FAQs include:
Why are there 16ounces in a pound, but 20fl oz in a pint? .....
Get yourselve to the States then if you want 16fl oz in your pint 😉
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When I am total and unsputed ruler of Britain, I will ban all imperial measures and anyone caught still using them will be sentenced to spend the rest of their lives in a 1950s prefab watching BBC on a B&W TV with . . . . . . a 30.48cm screen
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When I am total and unsputed ruler of Britain, I
::) ::)
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And don't forget there's 2,000yds to a nautical mile :y
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Here in metric land there are plenty of things imperial. Maks me smile as much of the pipework above 15mm half inch is in impetial inches.
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28.35 grams in an ounce....unless it's a Troy ounce.
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I'm not sure that I can explain this even to myself, but I have been in electronics engineering/radio all my working life and was totally happy with the MKS (formerly CGS) system of measurement, and yet in "civilian" life I have to convert wood sizes, etc., back to Imperial to visualise what I am dealing with! ::)
Ron.
I have the opposite: I think in metric for my stuff. But at work where most of the aircraft we work on are American, I'm subjected to the hideous mishmash of peculiar fractions, thousands of an inch(often for the same bloody measurements), feet, inch-pounds, number threads and dash hose-fittings that characterise the non-metric 'system'
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That surely explains why the Yanks are the way they are, Nick! ::)
Ron.
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And why Hubble was a cock-up just waiting to happen.....
Ron.
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I guess anybody under about 45-50 would be mostly metric
Shit, that means I bat both ways.... :o
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Just been explaining to the teenager about imperial measurements. You know, 16 ounces in a pound, 14 pounds in a stone, 112 lbs in a hundredweight (cwt), 20 cwt in a ton, 2240 lbs in a ton, 2420 sq yds in an acre etc.
He told me it was an absolute mess and he was glad he didn't have to know it.
Then I explained how, after brexit............. :) :) :) :)
I think he knew I was just joshing...... :)
[/quote
4840 when I was at school. :)
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This is SUCH a big bee in my bonnet. It is simply bonkers that we still use anything non-metric, whether it's yards, feet, inches, Ounces, pounds, stones, hundredweight whatever. My late father in law was a chippy, and he used to talk in something like three sixteenths of an inch etc. Yes I know that MPG and Miles and various others are in common use, but that doesn't make them right or even logical. We'd get used to change in the same way as we got used to monetary decimalisation.
Of course, the main reason much of this hangs on is because the Americans use them, Ah not quite, many of their measurements are actually different to ours although they have the same name ! Even more nuts.
I have an american made Guitar. I needed an allen key for the bridge saddle, I didn't have one. It turns out that the correct size is 0.050 (Metric) of an Inch (imperial). The same but cheaper model of guitar made in Far East have metric. Arrgggg I found a company that imports the keys. In medical devices metric parts of an imperial measurement is quite common.
I will now retire while the dinosaurs tear me apart ;D
When speaking of tits.......You don't get many of those to the pound sounds far better than you don't get many of those to the kilo. :)
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This is SUCH a big bee in my bonnet. It is simply bonkers that we still use anything non-metric, whether it's yards, feet, inches, Ounces, pounds, stones, hundredweight whatever. My late father in law was a chippy, and he used to talk in something like three sixteenths of an inch etc. Yes I know that MPG and Miles and various others are in common use, but that doesn't make them right or even logical. We'd get used to change in the same way as we got used to monetary decimalisation.
Of course, the main reason much of this hangs on is because the Americans use them, Ah not quite, many of their measurements are actually different to ours although they have the same name ! Even more nuts.
I have an american made Guitar. I needed an allen key for the bridge saddle, I didn't have one. It turns out that the correct size is 0.050 (Metric) of an Inch (imperial). The same but cheaper model of guitar made in Far East have metric. Arrgggg I found a company that imports the keys. In medical devices metric parts of an imperial measurement is quite common.
I will now retire while the dinosaurs tear me apart ;D
When speaking of tits.......You don't get many of those to the pound sounds far better than you don't get many of those to the kilo. :)
Although a kilo of tits is preferable to a pound of tits, surely?
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Deleted. Reason=senility.
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Deleted. Reason=senility.
You can't be senile and reasonably, but I a certain that you can be reasonably senile :D
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Imperial measures are far superior to metric. Metric is mickey mouse stuff, just like the Euro is mickey mouse money.
If I were undisputed leader I would outlaw metric with transgressors being hung from 2 yards of rope. :P ;D
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I guess anybody under about 45-50 would be mostly metric
Shit, that means I bat both ways.... :o
But we knew that anyway ::) ;D
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Imperial measures are far superior to metric. Metric is mickey mouse stuff, just like the Euro is mickey mouse money.
If I were undisputed leader I would outlaw metric with transgressors being hung from 2 yards of rope. :P ;D
The actual measures are largely irrelevant. It makes no difference whether you measure something as 34.7mm or 493/787Snookums.
It's when you come to actually do something with that measurement that using a directly relatable system is worthwhile/sensible/rational/quicker/easier/less prone to cockups. Especially if it's one that everybody else has agreed upon.
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4840 when I was at school. :)
You're right ..... but not a conversion I've ever needed :y
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4840 when I was at school. :)
You're right ..... but not a conversion I've ever needed :y
That STMO chappie needs to stand in the corner wearing a pointy hat with a 'big D' on it.
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When I am total and unsputed ruler of Britain, I
::) ::)
Yes of course. "unsputed". Someone who's had the spute removed silly ;)
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When I am total and unsputed ruler of Britain, I
::) ::)
Yes of course. "unsputed". Someone who's had the spute removed silly ;)
;D ;D ;D
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The Hubble telescope was a tragic example of working with mixed measurements - but they were American! ;D
Ron.
When they were calculating how concave the mirror needed to be on Hubble, somebody used a '+' instead of a '-' in the correction equation, but still :-[ :-[ :-[ where they forgot, check twice and machine once. ::) ::) ::)
When I worked on space stuff, the amount of checking, rechecking and quality control was unreal as when it is up there and it breaks there is very little you can normally do. :o :o :o
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I'm sure stories abound about the cause of the problem (mainly due to blame-shifting!), but the way I heard it there were two teams working on the Primary Mirror (the bit that was wrong) and whereas one team were workinhg in Imperial measurements, the other team were working in metric and the conversions were not as accurate as they needed to be - hence my earlier statement.....
Ron.
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Perhaps the guy who was supposed to be fitting my dear old Ma,s door last week had trouble with his imperial/ metric conversions. The new door was only 3" (75mm) too small. What a plonker. ::)
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I started working in Imperial, moved to Metric then started working for American companies who sent me all Imperial again.
I was working on a machine from Illinois last night with both Imperial & Metric fixings ??? ???
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Seems strange that we can still buy a Pint of Milk, but have to buy our Fuel in Litres, or would people just freak out if they knew they were paying £5.50 for a Gallon of petrol.
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I was working on a machine from Illinois last night with both Imperial & Metric fixings ??? ???
All the machines in a machine shop I once worked in were imperial, a firm we did a lot of work for sent their drawing in metric, so the first 5mins of any new job was converting all the metric dimensions to imperial. It was common for tolerances to be given in thou on a metric dimension eg 100mm +/- 0.015" ??? ;D ;D
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The only reasonable explanation for imperial I've ever heard is that in order to half a dimension all you needed to do was double the denominator. Which meant that even retarded peasants stood half a chance in a world pre calculator ;)
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Must admit I still convert measurements,torque settings back to Imperial.
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I guess anybody under about 45-50 would be mostly metric
Shit, that means I bat both ways.... :o
But we knew that anyway ::) ;D
Only because to took me violently. And you never rang me once afterwards :(
I feel used and dirty :P
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Nothing wrong with imperial measurements providing that you were brought up with them. I quite like the idea of the FFF system of units, that is the Furlong, Furkin and Fortnight.
We have a machine at the GCRN that has a metric engine, metric axles, imperial (UNF) gearbox and imperial (Whitworth / BSF) chassis fittings. This is OK once you know which bit you are working on and get the right tools but last week I found brake hydraulic fittings with UNF threads but metric hex sizes - presumably because they had metric hex bar in stock the week it was made.
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WAY off topic, "Matchless", but does your avatar relate to a bike you once had/still have? Aaah, memories..... :y 8)
Ron.
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I started working in Imperial, moved to Metric then started working for American companies who sent me all Imperial again.
I was working on a machine from Illinois last night with both Imperial & Metric fixings ??? ???
Try a Fuel injected Rover V8 from the 80's (pre Thor), they have UNF/UNC fixings for large parts of the main castings, Whitworth on ignition systems plus some ancillaries and metric on the Bosch sourced injection setup!
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It was a chuffing mess, I guess anybody under about 45-50 would be mostly metric (In know I am!)
I'm (just ;D ;D) over that age and I am fully converted. Metric is much easier :y :y