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I have not noticed a single occurrence of metric units in the UK version, much to my surprise. Why the surprise? The UK hardly uses metric measurements in everyday speech much at all. Despite the UK parliament and various commissions since 1797 (!) agreeing to change to the metric system, everyday life and speech seems to turn a deaf ear to it. Yes, we use SI measurements in scientific, engineering, and educational contexts. We buy our petrol in litres, or more probably in half-tankfuls, or 10 pounds-worths, but ignore the unit when complaining - Petrol's gone up tuppence -it's almost 80 pence now! We still talk about miles-per-gallon, but can't calculate it any more so just guess or don't talk about it at all. Miles-per-litre sounds silly and hasn't caught on as we wait for the next logical step, and we have no idea how to calulate litres-per-100 Kilometres, which is the European measure. Despite having weather forcast since the late 60s (by memory) using Centigrade temperatures, they are still regularly translated by the presenter into Fahrenheit, though I have noticed more use of Centigrade in everyday conversation recently. Luckily, for UK weather it is usually pretty clear what scale is being used. (Two asides - a quick conversion accurate enough for weather is "Double and add 30" to go from Centigrade to Fahrenheit. The other is that I had problems on vacation at the chalet until I noticed that the thermometer was in Reaumur, apparantly it was in fashion in Switzerland for some time - it is an old chalet by the way.) All pre-packaged food (apart from milk) is in metric units now, and since 1999 all loose items (fruit, veg, nails,..) have to be sold in metric (apart from beer where it is illegal to sell in metric!) But if you ask for a pound of apples in the market, you will get an approximation (as always) or a rounding up to half-kilo. The price will be calculated from the metric price. I think the English pound will become the nickname for a half-kilo, exactly as in France and Germany they use Livres and Pfund (in Germany babies' weight is told in Pfund - do they use livre in France anyone?) We only use kilometers in the army (called klicks) and except when measuring for fitted kitchens and fabric, we tend to use feet and inches still. As such all the idioms and general conversation still use imperial terms. A personal view from a metric enthusiast, your kilometr(e)age may vary, Rod http://www.usma.demon.co.uk/history.htm has some interesting snippets.
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I have not noticed a single occurrence of metric units in the UK version, much to my surprise.
Why the surprise? The UK hardly uses metric measurements in everyday speech much at all.
You see, that's precisely it. They teach us in schools that all of Erupoe, no all the modern world other than the US use metric exclusively. We are given the impression that we're the only educated group left on the planet who still uses that 'backward' imperial system. I thought it was common knowledge that everyone not from the United States used metric units.
emanuela recently sent me a postcard of her town. She mentioned someting 50 meters to the left. This seemed to provide reasonable evidence that Italians use metric units. I didn't realize that there was any reason to believe that UK did otherwise.
When maverick gave me the cost for shipping the books, he told me the price in US dollars, but the weight in kilos, also supporting my belief that SI was the common system of measure.
Never having had the opportunity to travel off the continent, I didn't realize that you use both. All I know of the world outside this continent is what I've read or what I've seen in some other form of media. The scientific works conform to my expectations. Most of the nature shows and documentaries Ive seen from UK use kilometers, kilograms, etc. also providing evidence that SI is the prefered system. The fiction seems to have been edited to shelter me from anything that might enlighten (or confuse).
This is why that when I saw a British edition of a book that used imperial units I was confused. I've never had reason to expect otherwise.
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he told me the price in US dollars, but the weight in kilosyeahbut® I'm a younger generation than Uncle Rodney  fwiw, I did all measurements when building my house in metric, from m3 of concrete to running lengths of timber (lumber to my yankee brethrennsistren). All my work life is measured out in metric coffee spoons too  And I buy petrol in litres, drink wine by the litre (believe me) but I still know all the imperial guages too. I was of the inbetween generation, in some ways, I guess. The only one I have to still make any conscious effort at is temperature - sure, I know 28 = 82, but I know what 52F or 64F or 93F feels like on my skin...
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Hey did you hear that Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire won this year's Hugo!! Rowling joins the ranks with such names as Asimov, Clarke, Gibson, Heinlein, and Brunner.
Even if it is one of the very few books to win a Hugo that isn't hard SciFi... Congratulaions to her!
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http://www.comics.com/comics/getfuzzy/ brings some, but not all, of our topics on this thread together nicely. Hard to tell if it's in Imperial or metric, though. p.s. as this is the comic for Sept. 6, the above URL may not work after today - but go to the Sept. 6 comic on the little calendar down the page a piece if it's a different day wherever/whenever you are reading this.
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And I buy petrol in litres, drink wine by the litre ..
the point I was trying to make in my previous rambling post was that we use metric measurements (apart from miles and pints of beer/milk) but that apart from sales and professional transactions we don't use them in general conversation much. In my experience this applies to the younger generation as well. We use a mixture of units, sometimes together (a metre of 2" by 4" timber).
Television and monitor screen sizes are expressed in inches, car engine sizes in cc or litres. Arbitary and approximate measurements tend to be expressed in imperial - "The pub is 500 yards from the junction.", whereas specific regulated measurements such as in international sports (athletics, swimming, rugby, soccer, etc,) are in metric, presumably in US as well.
Since the change to Celsius (which I still refer to as Centigrade) is only just moving into the language after 30 years, we may need to wait a while. Even then I expect that many of today's imperial expressions ("give him an inch and he'll take a mile", "he hasn't an ounce of sense") will remain.
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In my experience this applies to the younger generation as well. We use a mixture of units...Point taken, Rod - hey, I never claimed to be representative of the lumpen masses, I'm a maverick But fwiw I do give directions like "take the second on the left, 200 metres after the bridge..." And I don't measure wood in feet and inches, haven't done for at least fifteen years (that's ¾ of a score in Imperial )
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mav: fifteen years (that's ¾ of a score in Imperial)I think you mean half-score and five . rod: a metre of 2" by 4" timberThat makes my brain hurt.
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so how old is three score years and ten?
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70-- and aside from the Gettysburg address, i never use score or stone as measurement of 20 http://eserver.org/history/gettysburg-address.txtFour score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation or any nation so conceived and so dedicated can long endure. We are met on a great battlefield of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field as a final resting-place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this. But in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate, we cannot consecrate, we cannot hallow this round...
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