Things you always wanted to know the answer to [Vol. 2]
Discussion
torqueofthedevil said:
DickyC said:
All ready for Metrication. 437 yards is 400 metres.
Interesting point. Whilst I prefer miles and mph to kilometres and kph, using yards seems so antiquated - who ever uses yards? At school (been metric my whole life) we still refered to miles and converted to meters sometimes - 1600m races etc. but never once did anyone use yards. I know approximately how long one is but other than a golf course when do we use yards. Most people my age wouldn't be able to give you an accurate description of the length of a yard. The fact that its still used on road signs is ridiculous.
An example near me:
https://maps.google.co.uk/maps?q=Babraham+Rd,+Camb...
(yes I know it's a height restriction, not a distance board, but it's the same story whenever you have a sign with a metric measurement.)
torqueofthedevil said:
Most people my age wouldn't be able to give you an accurate description of the length of a yard.
The fact that its still used on road signs is ridiculous.
How old are you?The fact that its still used on road signs is ridiculous.
It's 3 foot, obviously chosen as the next-measurement up as it's the average length of your 3 feet when you put them end to end.
Jader1973 said:
Why do some racing cars, and wannabe racing cars, have a line of tape at the 12 o'clock position on the steering wheel?
Surely they know when it is going straight?
One for the stnphs thread?Surely they know when it is going straight?
scarble said:
torqueofthedevil said:
Most people my age wouldn't be able to give you an accurate description of the length of a yard.
The fact that its still used on road signs is ridiculous.
How old are you?The fact that its still used on road signs is ridiculous.
It's 3 foot, obviously chosen as the next-measurement up as it's the average length of your 3 feet when you put them end to end.
Jader1973 said:
Why do some racing cars, and wannabe racing cars, have a line of tape at the 12 o'clock position on the steering wheel?
Surely they know when it is going straight?
One for the stnphs thread?Surely they know when it is going straight?
It's not obvious that its 3 feet though - a 'yard' could be anything to somebody who hasn't had the imperial system explained - as abstract a concept as a furlong or something. Also converting it back to meters. Ask somebody how far is 10 yards is in meters - not many people my age will give you an accurate answer.
Some will of course, but other than miles we don't use imperial weights and measurements anymore, so using yards on warning signs is daft. We use a metric system now.
torqueofthedevil said:
Late 20's.
And you don't know what a yard is? Seriously? I can understand being a bit flummoxed by a short ton or a hundredweight, but we work in yards, road signs have always been in yards. I'm surprised one can pass a driving test without knowing, at least roughly, what a yard is. (I'm only early 30's myself)torqueofthedevil said:
scarble said:
torqueofthedevil said:
Most people my age wouldn't be able to give you an accurate description of the length of a yard.
The fact that its still used on road signs is ridiculous.
How old are you?The fact that its still used on road signs is ridiculous.
It's 3 foot, obviously chosen as the next-measurement up as it's the average length of your 3 feet when you put them end to end.
Jader1973 said:
Why do some racing cars, and wannabe racing cars, have a line of tape at the 12 o'clock position on the steering wheel?
Surely they know when it is going straight?
One for the stnphs thread?Surely they know when it is going straight?
It's not obvious that its 3 feet though - a 'yard' could be anything to somebody who hasn't had the imperial system explained - as abstract a concept as a furlong or something. Also converting it back to meters. Ask somebody how far is 10 yards is in meters - not many people my age will give you an accurate answer.
Some will of course, but other than miles we don't use imperial weights and measurements anymore, so using yards on warning signs is daft. We use a metric system now.
P-Jay said:
I'm with you on that, I've no fecking clue how long a yard is, when in doubt I equate it to a meter - I think they stopped teaching yards, furlongs and whatever other obscure and irregular measurements they had in 1965 - nearly 50 years ago.
How big is the meter though ? AFAIK water meters and gas meters are bigger then electricity meters."A metre measures 3 feet 3. It's longer than a yard, you see.
Shaolin said:
marshalla said:
How big is the meter though ? AFAIK water meters and gas meters are bigger then electricity meters.
"A metre measures 3 feet 3. It's longer than a yard, you see.
Ours are nowhere near that big, that's progress for you I suppose."A metre measures 3 feet 3. It's longer than a yard, you see.
torqueofthedevil said:
scarble said:
torqueofthedevil said:
Most people my age wouldn't be able to give you an accurate description of the length of a yard.
The fact that its still used on road signs is ridiculous.
How old are you?The fact that its still used on road signs is ridiculous.
It's 3 foot, obviously chosen as the next-measurement up as it's the average length of your 3 feet when you put them end to end.
Jader1973 said:
Why do some racing cars, and wannabe racing cars, have a line of tape at the 12 o'clock position on the steering wheel?
Surely they know when it is going straight?
One for the stnphs thread?Surely they know when it is going straight?
It's not obvious that its 3 feet though - a 'yard' could be anything to somebody who hasn't had the imperial system explained - as abstract a concept as a furlong or something. Also converting it back to meters. Ask somebody how far is 10 yards is in meters - not many people my age will give you an accurate answer.
Some will of course, but other than miles we don't use imperial weights and measurements anymore, so using yards on warning signs is daft. We use a metric system now.
Do you describe the length of your gentleman in inches or cm?
eta: @ andy, they're width(metric,mm)x45(ratio)x inner diameter(imperial, inches), so they are in metric. Sort of.
I can't really do heights in m & cm, ' and " are easier to visualise.
torqueofthedevil said:
Late 20's.
It's not obvious that its 3 feet though - a 'yard' could be anything to somebody who hasn't had the imperial system explained - as abstract a concept as a furlong or something. Also converting it back to meters. Ask somebody how far is 10 yards is in meters - not many people my age will give you an accurate answer.
Some will of course, but other than miles we don't use imperial weights and measurements anymore, so using yards on warning signs is daft. We use a metric system now.
I'm 26 and I get it. I get it because they covered it at school, it was part of the national curriculum. Year 8 I think, could be wrong though.It's not obvious that its 3 feet though - a 'yard' could be anything to somebody who hasn't had the imperial system explained - as abstract a concept as a furlong or something. Also converting it back to meters. Ask somebody how far is 10 yards is in meters - not many people my age will give you an accurate answer.
Some will of course, but other than miles we don't use imperial weights and measurements anymore, so using yards on warning signs is daft. We use a metric system now.
I can't really do heights in m & cm, ' and " are easier to visualise.
Edited by scarble on Monday 18th August 14:19
The really daft thing is using both. We buy fuel in litres but drive miles making fuel consumption figures awkward to calculate.
With the exception of small bore pipe used by plumbers, the industries that use pipe almost exclusively use imperial pipe sizes. Even the French. Curiously, it's the Germans who stick out for Metric pipe sizes.
And now, you young metrically minded drivers, do you remember the first time you went over a hundred?
Marvellous.
With the exception of small bore pipe used by plumbers, the industries that use pipe almost exclusively use imperial pipe sizes. Even the French. Curiously, it's the Germans who stick out for Metric pipe sizes.
And now, you young metrically minded drivers, do you remember the first time you went over a hundred?
Marvellous.
DickyC said:
With the exception of small bore pipe used by plumbers, the industries that use pipe almost exclusively use imperial pipe sizes. Even the French. Curiously, it's the Germans who stick out for Metric pipe sizes.
Not really. Whenever I've been involved in large-scale (as in long lengths, rather than big diameters) pipe laying (such as gas, water pipes under roads etc), the pipes have always been in metric. 62mm pipe, 90mm pipe, 150mm, 225mm, 300mm, 375mm etc. The imperials have pretty much all transferred to metric now. Obviously, the old guard still like to transfer them in to inches - which isn't always easy under 4" or 100mm. Or you see a second hand car advertised in Sweden as having covered 7k.
Except they are talking Swedish miles.
1 Swedish mile = 10km
So that 7k low mileage bargain has done 70k. Wibble.
OK I grew up before metrication but one thing that really helps you to get a grip and comfortable flitting between the two systems is working with Americans yet also being based in Canada.
Except they are talking Swedish miles.
1 Swedish mile = 10km
So that 7k low mileage bargain has done 70k. Wibble.
OK I grew up before metrication but one thing that really helps you to get a grip and comfortable flitting between the two systems is working with Americans yet also being based in Canada.
torqueofthedevil said:
Interesting point. Whilst I prefer miles and mph to kilometres and kph, using yards seems so antiquated - who ever uses yards? At school (been metric my whole life) we still refered to miles and converted to meters sometimes - 1600m races etc. but never once did anyone use yards. I know approximately how long one is but other than a golf course when do we use yards. Most people my age wouldn't be able to give you an accurate description of the length of a yard.
The fact that its still used on road signs is ridiculous.
Golf is measured in yards for one very obvious reason. A yard is basically the same length as most men's stride (or pace, if youlike). So if you pace out from the tee how many strides you've taken to reach the ball, you know how far you've got left for the next shot. Lets say you are on a 400 yard hole, and you hit the ball nicely down the fairway, counting your strides, lets say 250 paces, you've got approx 150 left. The fact that its still used on road signs is ridiculous.
So a yard is very similar to your stride length, whereas a metre isn't. Taller youths of today probably have a little longer stride, but to be fair they mostly shuffle around because their trousers aren't pulled up properly.....
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