Do you think in metric or imperial?

Do you think in metric or imperial?

Author
Discussion

Wacky Racer

Original Poster:

38,099 posts

246 months

Wednesday 1st October 2014
quotequote all
As per thread title.

If you were buying carpet would it be £30 sq yard (in your mind) or metres?

Buying some wood?......2 metres or 6 ft.

Would you think of yourself as 6ft tall or i80cm?

Petrol.......1 gallon or 4.5 litres?

I expect the younger PH'ers think in metric, but have to look at road signs in miles, not kilometres.......(in the UK)

Paul_M3

2,356 posts

184 months

Wednesday 1st October 2014
quotequote all
I'm 35, and I guess I mainly think in Metric.

Part of that probably comes from being an Engineer, so I work in Metres, Kilograms etc.

However, it does depend on what you're talking about.

If somebody asked me how tall I was I'd say 6ft.
If they asked me my weight, I'd tell them in stones or pounds.

I think in miles buts that's understandable because all of our signs are in miles, etc.

If somebody asked me the fuel tank capacity of my car I'd tell them in litres, but I work out my fuel consumption in MPG as it instantly means something to me. A figure in litres/km would be meaningless until I'd converted it.

I imagine most people my age are quite similar.

iva cosworth

44,044 posts

162 months

Wednesday 1st October 2014
quotequote all
Both.

Drive a 12 Tonne lorry,not 12 ton.

But the product I carry is mainly 8ftx4ft,other sizes too but also imperial.

And the thickness of the 8x4s are in MMs.

I doubt many in the UK use litre/100KMs instead of MPG.

When driving on the continent I instantly convert Distance signs in KMs to miles.

Riff Raff

5,085 posts

194 months

Wednesday 1st October 2014
quotequote all
Paul_M3 said:
I'm 35, and I guess I mainly think in Metric.

Part of that probably comes from being an Engineer, so I work in Metres, Kilograms etc.

However, it does depend on what you're talking about.

If somebody asked me how tall I was I'd say 6ft.
If they asked me my weight, I'd tell them in stones or pounds.

I think in miles buts that's understandable because all of our signs are in miles, etc.

If somebody asked me the fuel tank capacity of my car I'd tell them in litres, but I work out my fuel consumption in MPG as it instantly means something to me. A figure in litres/km would be meaningless until I'd converted it.

I imagine most people my age are quite similar.
I'm 60 and think a bit like you. The exception would be working with small measurements where I think (and work on the lathe and the mill) in thous.

GroundEffect

13,814 posts

155 months

Wednesday 1st October 2014
quotequote all
I use:

PS instead of BHP
C or K instead of F
mm instead of inches
kg instead of lbs/stone
litres instead of gallons

I use km/h equally as much as mph

...but I use feet more often than metres smile


Lotus Notes

1,197 posts

190 months

Wednesday 1st October 2014
quotequote all
Both, but I have a Chemical Engineering background.

As time goes on, I use metric more (as I live in France and they have absolutely no idea about 'quaint' imperial units)


Bill

52,469 posts

254 months

Wednesday 1st October 2014
quotequote all
I described a planned tv shelf this evening as 38cm high, sat on a two inch plinthconfused

NBTBRV8

2,061 posts

207 months

Wednesday 1st October 2014
quotequote all
Being Australian, metric. I can't get my head around why the UK uses both. Just go with one or the other.

Insanity Magnet

616 posts

152 months

Wednesday 1st October 2014
quotequote all
iva cosworth said:
Both.

Drive a 12 Tonne lorry,not 12 ton.

But the product I carry is mainly 8ftx4ft,other sizes too but also imperial.

And the thickness of the 8x4s are in MMs.

I doubt many in the UK use litre/100KMs instead of MPG.

When driving on the continent I instantly convert Distance signs in KMs to miles.
Ditto, distances either way from far too much track running when I was younger. Also worked for a US owned British company where manufacturing was in the states. All designs in imperial and constant correction-tennis with US / British english on the drawings (over my dead body etc).

OH grew up in Europe so she can't handle imperial weights or measurements but can manage miles for distances...

Mojooo

12,668 posts

179 months

Wednesday 1st October 2014
quotequote all
Metric mainly apart from speed and height

Its a bit of a farce that we haven't fully moved over to metric IMO.

GroundEffect

13,814 posts

155 months

Wednesday 1st October 2014
quotequote all
NBTBRV8 said:
Being Australian, metric. I can't get my head around why the UK uses both. Just go with one or the other.
'coz we're smarter and must demonstrate by using both, innit.

marksx

5,052 posts

189 months

Wednesday 1st October 2014
quotequote all
Both, but I don't really know how.

There was only metric in school, I just seemed to have picked up imperial. But only in feet inched and half inches. Weird!

I quite fluidly flip between both working in engineering on a chemical plant with old school fitters.

Bradgate

2,819 posts

146 months

Wednesday 1st October 2014
quotequote all
Both.

When I'm cooking, I measure out ingredients in metric. When In the pub, mine's a pint.

silvagod

1,052 posts

159 months

Wednesday 1st October 2014
quotequote all
Well I am mid 50's and think and measure in both.

I used to think only in imperial (inches / feet / yards / even furlongs!)

However, as time has moved on and a lot of what I buy is labelled in metric I have had to adapt.

In my mind now though, I surreptitiously change metres squared to yards squared to visualise it, I can't help it, there's not a lot of difference but I HAVE to do it!!

Wacky Racer

Original Poster:

38,099 posts

246 months

Wednesday 1st October 2014
quotequote all
Well I'm 61 and don't like metric at all, but I am a bit of a luddite tbh.. I suppose I'll get used to it one day....

In fact I've just bought some timber today from the local yard, and the sign over the door says "We talk feet and inches here"...biggrin

GroundEffect

13,814 posts

155 months

Wednesday 1st October 2014
quotequote all
At work, I need to be able to handle both. Us Euros are fine with metric but the yanks...my god, lbs-force, BTUs (British Thermal Units!) and the painful use of fahrenheit in their calibrations makes for headaches. They'll learn, one day.

And what the fk are microinches playing at?


Hugo a Gogo

23,378 posts

232 months

Wednesday 1st October 2014
quotequote all
all metric

although I do have a set of AF and whitworth spanners and sockets

leafspring

7,032 posts

136 months

Wednesday 1st October 2014
quotequote all
Mainly metric but owning & working on old cars and boats I can use either at a pinch.

Never learnt how to convert one to the other though... at work we use metric for accuracy/precision stuff and imperial for knocking bits together (so if you're asked for something 34mm long it needs to be exact... if they say "about 2 inches"... not so much, an inch and 3/4 is fine...

I always have a tape measure and set of vernier callipers handy

Edited by leafspring on Wednesday 1st October 22:07

anonymous-user

53 months

Wednesday 1st October 2014
quotequote all
They have blurred into one measurement system for me, use them interchangeably.

One car is metric, the other imperial.

Glade

4,256 posts

222 months

Wednesday 1st October 2014
quotequote all
Mostly metric, apart from small things, where I can think in 0.001"