Some progress to report
This graphic claims that only three countries in the world do not use the metric system. None of them is the UK. Now anyone who lives here knows that we don’t really use the metric system. Roadsigns are in miles and MPH. Beer and milk is available in pints. And people weigh themselves in stone. There is even some progress to report as well. Next year, four?
August 7th, 2008 at 5:58 pm
It’s not really accurate to say that the United States does not use the metric system. It’s used almost exclusively in science applications and it’s commonly used in engineering and for things like that. The place you don’t see the metric system is in common usage like for weighing people or for measuring the speed of a car or setting the speed limit.
Feet are always used to measure the hight of a person. As it turns out, it is a well suited measurement to the human scale and pounds are used for the weight of a person or if you’re buying something at the store or something. Gallons are used for most liquids like buying gasoline.
I suspect this is not all that different from other parts of the world where vestiges still exist like drinking a pint of ale or measuring weight in stones. I remember in Australia seeing things in stores were generally in pints/quarts and that kind of thing. Recipes I also suspect are still measured in cups, table spoons, teaspoons, and so on.
August 7th, 2008 at 8:22 pm
Well I think the people behind that graphic were trying to make a political point. Given that the point is something like “Gee, the US is being left behind by the world, and has a lot in common with dictatorships” it’s not really surprising that the content of the graphic is similarly inaccurate.