Do you use the metric system for everything?

[Brian]

When trading stories with people in NZ I was surprised to hear a lot of them using imperial units - miles, feet, pounds, etc. I started out converting things to metric as I spoke but eventually stopped doing that and nobody seemed to mind. I've noticed the same thing talking to people from the UK. I'm not sure if they used the imperial units because it was what they always used or because they knew they were talking to an American.

So.. is the metric system still new enough that most people think in imperial units? Are they equally understood from a conversation point of view or is one preferable to the other? Am I likely to run into people who don't really understand feet/miles?

What about temperatures in C/F?

[xanctus]

hehehe Brian,
I had exactly the same dilema when I came to US 9 years ago. Where temperature here using F, whereas all around the world is using Celcious.

I know metrics for cars are using Km, instead of miles...
I believe US is the only country that using Farenheit for temperature, Miles for distance.

but check this website
http://www.convert-me.com/en/convert/temperature

[wayne]

I think it will take a generation or so to finally go metric I teach steel fabrication at a college so we work entirely metric but when discussing jobs amongst ourselves its all feet'n'inches , some of our students workplaces only do imperial despite material being sold metric.
NZ is metric to a degree but people still speak of "gallons" and yards etc some of the older terms of measurement are gone now like chains, furlongs quarts etc .
the younger generation brought up on metric will have no concept of a yard , inch etc so I feel it will be a good few years until metric is known in its own right

[GeorgeM]

I have to say that I've not come across much usage of imperial measures, even from older people.

Perhaps in the over 60s age group these are used but no one where I work ever uses yards or miles when estimating distances, or pounds or stones when talking about weight. Except me!

Having said that, though, they still seem to use the 'cup' as a measure in cooking quite a lot, although the standard set we bought when we arrived (to make using NZ recipes easier) has metric quantities on the handles (I think that 1 cup = 60ml, but without checking I couldn't guarantee this).

[Simon & Emily]

Just a quick thought on the cooking front - is the NZ cup the same as an American cup? Or is it yet another thing to confuse us Brits who like the good old feet and inches?

Thanks,

Emily

[Carol]

I always always use metric............except when I'm cooking because I have a set of scales with brass weights in imperial.
I have to convert everything backwards to be able to weigh anything!!

[GeorgeM]

I have a set of scales with brass weights in imperial.

We have a set of metric weights up to 500g and a set of imperial up to 2lb.

So if we have to weigh more than about 750g we end up having to use our 225g (8oz), 450g (1lb) and 900g (2lb) weights to make up the various quantities.

The kids think we're real cheapskates and should just get a set of bigger metric weights!

[sarahw]

Well I still use feet and inches to give heights & everyone seems to understand - I also give my weight in stones - sometimes people understand - sometimes they don't - haven't got a clue how heavy I am in kilos!!

I recently bought some jewellery from a NZ website & the measurements were in inches - I guess that's because their main market is the US though.

You soon get used to it - we grew up with degrees C and Farenheit, and feet and inches and cm and metres, and pounds & oz and kilos - seems we've gone metric now in the UK but for years there were some pretty messed up kids! We all learnt to measure in metres & cm's at school and then went out to buy houses which were measured in feet and inches! :? Same with buying food - they only made it law a few years ago to measure in Kilos.

Really can't get my head around Km's though - I still think in miles & convert the Kms back! Just remember the 'mileage' or 'K's' as its called here is in Km's - we nearly had heart attacks the first time we saw the K's on a car as we were thinking in miles!!

[wayne]

We call Km's Kwik Miles :mrgreen: :mrgreen:

[Brian]

We all learnt to measure in metres & cm's at school and then went out to buy houses which were measured in feet and inches!

A similar thing happened in the US.. there was a big push when I was in grade school to get the kids to understand metric because we were surely going to switch over soon. So, I learned all of that stuff and ignored all the pint/quart/cup stuff. I still don't really know those units.

I've been exposed to most metric units through jobs or hobbies over the years so I can convert reasonably well. Celcius could take me a while. I know -40=-40 (good for telling stories of Winter in Montana) and 0=32 but I can't do anything else in my head yet.

Sounds like I should count on using metric when I can.