Is it true that US is the only one not using metric?

[radiantquest]

I heard this recently. Why dont we convert? Is there a reason? What exactly is the metric system? Would all of our measurements change? No inches? No miles? Would I need a new measuring cup?

Can someone please explain to me.

 

[Karl_K]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metric_system

So far We The People have rejected all attempts to change it.
Anyone who tries is quickly kicked out of office so it isn't brought up anymore.
A few things are sold in metric such as 1L and 2L bottles of pop.
Automotive parts are mostly all metric now.
Medicine is mostly all metric now.

 

[kenny]

Jimmy Carter tried.

I bought a pyrex measuring cup back then.
When held in the right hand the metric values are facing you.
When held in the left hand the "US" values are facing you.

I can''t stand it when I have to think. . . is 7/32ths of an inch larger than 3/8 inch?
Metric is so much easier but Americans got used to their system and do not exactly embrace change.

 

[Cehrabehra]

after living in ireland I''m a bigger fan of metric than ever - it was SO easy to adapt every day thinking around, in fact I have more trouble with empirical at this point. It''s ridiculous.

 

[radiantquest]

To me it makes us seem pompous. We must have our own measuring system. I am all about originality, but the rest of the WORLD is doing it.

I guess it comes down to if everyone was jumping off the bridge, would you do it too? Apparently not.

 

[lyra]

I''m in Canada. My kids were raised metric, DH and I were raised first in empirical and then metric. I never quite caught on to be honest. I still think in terms of inches, feet, etc. My kids have *no* concept of these measurements. My DH adapted completely. So I''m the one always asking for conversions. I can understand temperature just fine though.

As a concept, metric makes more sense, and if you''re raised metric it''s so much easier.

 

[Squirrly]

Date: 12/9/2009 12:32:26 PM
Author: radiantquest
To me it makes us seem pompous. We must have our own measuring system. I am all about originality, but the rest of the WORLD is doing it.

I guess it comes down to if everyone was jumping off the bridge, would you do it too? Apparently not.

this thread made me smile. in my parents'' day i believe only standard was taught in schools but since before i went metric has been taught along with standard, and while we loved conversions in metric so much more in school than standard, it still hasn''t been changed nationally. from my understanding all science classes (at least the high school/college ones i can remember) use metric measurements because it''d be pointless to use standard.

my guess is once enough of the population has gone through school learning both the issue will come up again and stand more of a chance of getting us on metric.

 

[Kelli]

I''m pretty sure I was taught, even as a kid, that the rest of the world uses the metric system, which makes WAAAAAY more sense than our system. I''d have a hard time adjusting, but I wish we''d switch anyway.

 

[DiaDiva]

Date: 12/9/2009 12:06:04 PM
Author: Karl_K
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metric_system


So far We The People have rejected all attempts to change it.

Anyone who tries is quickly kicked out of office so it isn''t brought up anymore.

A few things are sold in metric such as 1L and 2L bottles of pop.

Automotive parts are mostly all metric now.

Medicine is mostly all metric now.

So are diamonds, coloured stones and pearls!

I grew up using metric. The hardest thing to get used to here was using fahrenheit. 32 degrees in celsius is hot while it''s freezing in fahrenheit!

 

[kas baby]

to be honest, I don''t think it would take people terribly long to get a hold of things. most of the times metric units are on everything along with the ''other'' system. I would much prefer doing everything in metric. It makes things so much easier, but then again, I''m in a science field and when ever I see something not in metric

I cringe at the thought of obscure conversions

perhaps what is holding the switch back, is all the producers who don''t want to change how and with what they make their products??

just a thought.

 

[setell]

Date: 12/9/2009 12:36:57 PM
Author: lyra
I''m in Canada. My kids were raised metric, DH and I were raised first in empirical and then metric. I never quite caught on to be honest. I still think in terms of inches, feet, etc. My kids have *no* concept of these measurements. My DH adapted completely. So I''m the one always asking for conversions. I can understand temperature just fine though.

As a concept, metric makes more sense, and if you''re raised metric it''s so much easier.

I''m a Canadian too and was taught in metrics while growing up but I still know inches, feet, rough farenheit etc. so it''s possible you can learn the "standard" or old school way!

What I don''t understand is that the farenheit temperature system is skewed. To me when it''s cold outside it''s minus something celcius (unless you''re talking Kelvins in science

). I feel like a dummy when I have to stop and think to figure out what 65mph in KM/hr is when I go shopping in the US! I guess I can easily convert them fairly well since my dad drilled it into me while growing up since I would ask stupid questions like how many meters in a feet etc.

 

[upgrade]

Another Canadian... and officially, we are metric but when it comes to some things, because of our close relationship with all things American, we use standard measurements. I think we all know weight in pounds and height in feet/inches and many recipes (probably because we use so many US cookbooks) are in teaspoons, cups, etc... but other than those things, we're metric. It really would make life so much easier if the whole world used one system. There would be an adjustment period, but we'd all figure it out soon enough.

ETA: all of my measuring cups and spoons, food scales etc... have both.

 

[JSM]

I'm in science, like many here, and I find myself using the metric system for smaller volumes/lengths and the standard system for larger measurements. If I'm cooking, I can't help myself from wondering why they can't just give me the recipe in mls/liters and grams, but if I'm driving, I can't think in terms of kms, and have to reference miles. Maybe I'm strange!

 

[HopeDream]

Canadian building supplies are also all sold in imperial (not metric) so I still look for 3/4 inch screws etc.

Metric is so much easier than imperial because it's all base ten so going from big to small is realy easy.

For cooking I know both imperial and metric, and the metric measurements for imperial things are all really easy (1tsp = 5ml, 1TBsp = 15 ml 1cup = 250ml,
and 1L = 1000 (close to a quart) so there are still 4 cups in a litre, there are about 2 lb in a kilogram etc).

Gas is sold by the litre and there are about 4 litres in a gallon, 2 miles = about 3km .

Dealing with milimeters just feels so much more precise to me than 16ths of an inch, and doubling or tripling lengths/quantities of materials is easier in metric.

We use celcius for talking about weather and fereignheight for baking

Celcius - 0 is where water freezes, 100 is where water boils, (I think ferignheight is based on when alcohol boils and freezes)
room temperature is about 25c a hot day is 30c,
you might want a coat at 10c and at -5c you need gloves a hat and a scarf.
It can start snowing at 0c.

This system is very convenient for taking about winter, which is our national pastime.
Celcius also makes sence because human beings are mostly water, so it has a bit more relivance to human comfort (and nice round numbers).

 

[purrfectpear]

It''s my fault.

I didn''t want to learn a new system

 

[Iowa Lizzy]

Date: 12/9/2009 3:36:46 PM
Author: HopeDream
Canadian building supplies are also all sold in imperial (not metric) so I still look for 3/4 inch screws etc.


Metric is so much easier than imperial because it''s all base ten so going from big to small is realy easy.


For cooking I know both imperial and metric, and the metric measurements for imperial things are all really easy (1tsp = 5ml, 1TBsp = 15 ml 1cup = 250ml,

and 1L = 1000 (close to a quart) so there are still 4 cups in a litre, there are about 2 lb in a kilogram etc).


Gas is sold by the litre and there are about 4 litres in a gallon, 2 miles = about 3km .


Dealing with milimeters just feels so much more precise to me than 16ths of an inch, and doubling or tripling lengths/quantities of materials is easier in metric.


We use celcius for talking about weather and fereignheight for baking


Celcius - 0 is where water freezes, 100 is where water boils, (I think ferignheight is based on when alcohol boils and freezes)

room temperature is about 25c a hot day is 30c,

you might want a coat at 10c and at -5c you need gloves a hat and a scarf.

It can start snowing at 0c.


This system is very convenient for taking about winter, which is our national pastime.

Celcius also makes sence because human beings are mostly water, so it has a bit more relivance to human comfort (and nice round numbers).

I feel like I should print this out and carry it with me for reference! Metric seems like such an easy system once you get the hang of it. I wish we''d switch!

 

[Shoopy]

We are also the only country to use GAAP while all other countries are using IFRS or are at least migrating towards it which makes preparing financial statements a nightmare if you are a global company.

But that''s a whole other boring topic

 

[Linda W]

Date: 12/9/2009 3:57:35 PM
Author: purrfectpear
It''s my fault.


I didn''t want to learn a new system

Ha ha ha ha, me either. I am too old.

 

[yssie]

Haha we moved here a decade ago from Aussie. I''ve completely adapted to distance measurements - I couldn''t point out a meter if I tried now, I still start when someone says "it''s 25 and snowing!" though

 

[Cehrabehra]

Date: 12/9/2009 12:36:57 PM
Author: lyra
I''m in Canada. My kids were raised metric, DH and I were raised first in empirical and then metric. I never quite caught on to be honest. I still think in terms of inches, feet, etc. My kids have *no* concept of these measurements. My DH adapted completely. So I''m the one always asking for conversions. I can understand temperature just fine though.

As a concept, metric makes more sense, and if you''re raised metric it''s so much easier.

I got to know the temperature a few months before I moved to Ireland by having weather bug on my homepage tell me the temp outside in C so that I could "feel" it and get used to it that way. I can''t convert but I know that I''d rather have a 24* day than a 34 or 14!! lol

 

[Arcadian]

I remember them trying to teach metric in school because we were supposed to change over. that was a disaster. I think even the teacher was confused.

I didn''t learn metric really well until college. I can use both, except when driving and in temps.

-A