| General > General Technical Chat |
| UK back to "imperial" measurements ? |
| << < (14/33) > >> |
| Someone:
--- Quote from: vk6zgo on May 30, 2022, 12:20:28 pm --- --- Quote from: themadhippy on May 30, 2022, 11:32:52 am ---brilliant news, i can order a pint of bitter and a pint of shandy instead of a pint of bitter and a large shandy --- End quote --- In Oz, we seem to have undergone a process of "Re-Imperialisation by stealth". If I want to buy a "Pint" of Beer, I will travel to the "Old Dart"---- Oz beer was served by the "Pot", "Schooner", "Middy" or "Glass". Such measures were so imbedded in the Australian psyche, that the Metrication Board even turned out a chart, specifying the quantities in Metric measures. --- End quote --- yet the states all disagreeing on the names: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beer_in_Australia#Beer_glasses Plenty of themed places selling metric beers in 1l/500ml units. |
| vk6zgo:
--- Quote from: TimFox on May 30, 2022, 07:35:51 pm ---Before 1974, the price of gasoline in the US was well below $1.00 per US gallon. With the oil shock, the price rose, but most gas-station pumps could not use a price above $1.00. However, most could be set for liters, so Americans found themselves buying gasoline by the liter until the pumps could be replaced. Now, the US retail price is above $1.00 per liter, but the electronic pump controls can handle much higher prices than that. Similarly, wine and spirits used to be sold here by the "fifth", which was 1/5 gallon = 0.8 quart = 757.0 ml = 25.6 fl oz. Taking advantage of the standard European size for spirits and wine bottles, we now buy them in 750 ml size = 25.4 fl oz. We all know what happens to prices when units change. --- End quote --- Back around that time (actually, a bit earlier, in 1971), I was surprised that Brits asked for "so many gallons" if they ordered fuel. In Oz, it was normal to just say "fill 'er up", or ask for say "$20 of super, or whatever", & that habit was carried over into self serve pumps. After all, the amount you were paying was the important bit! |
| Someone:
--- Quote from: Benta on May 30, 2022, 08:11:57 pm --- --- Quote from: TimFox on May 30, 2022, 08:07:59 pm ---Re: Benta Before 1959, the US legal definition was 1 meter = 39.37 inch (exactly), which is slightly different than the current legal definition (post-1959) that 1 inch = 2.54 cm (exactly). This makes a difference for legal measurements of land tenure, which just got messed up again recently with the proposed abolition of the "US Survey Foot" that perpetuated the previous definition. https://www.nist.gov/pml/us-surveyfoot --- End quote --- @TimFox: which proves my point. If there's no common reference, you're deep in manure. Henry Ford and US industry were smarter. Imagine specifying a precision-cut 1/4" milled slot when the supplier doesn't have the same inch size as you. --- End quote --- Not many real world problems are put out by ppm discrepancies (which is the scale of that linked change). Which comes back around to the actual accuracy achievable in use: --- Quote from: Benta on May 30, 2022, 09:09:18 pm --- --- Quote from: TimFox on May 30, 2022, 08:53:55 pm ---It brags about measurement precision down to low millionths of an inch. --- End quote --- Yes. Those would be the reference Jo Blocks kept in a temperature-controlled safe. The calibration blocks would be good to 1/1000 mm, the production blocks at around 5/1000 mm. Normal practice. --- End quote --- |
| sleemanj:
--- Quote from: Benta on May 30, 2022, 08:00:24 pm ---exception of the kilogram. That one's still being worked on. --- End quote --- The new definition of the kilogram was adopted in 2019 |
| vk6zgo:
--- Quote from: Someone on May 31, 2022, 12:01:09 am --- --- Quote from: vk6zgo on May 30, 2022, 12:20:28 pm --- --- Quote from: themadhippy on May 30, 2022, 11:32:52 am ---brilliant news, i can order a pint of bitter and a pint of shandy instead of a pint of bitter and a large shandy --- End quote --- In Oz, we seem to have undergone a process of "Re-Imperialisation by stealth". If I want to buy a "Pint" of Beer, I will travel to the "Old Dart"---- Oz beer was served by the "Pot", "Schooner", "Middy" or "Glass". Such measures were so imbedded in the Australian psyche, that the Metrication Board even turned out a chart, specifying the quantities in Metric measures. --- End quote --- yet the states all disagreeing on the names: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beer_in_Australia#Beer_glasses Plenty of themed places selling metric beers in 1l/500ml units. --- End quote --- I've never heard of "shetland" or "bobbie/six" in WA (maybe made up by the contributor to Wiki?). Way back, our "middy" was a different size to the container of that name in other States, & was "brought into line" with theirs, much to the disgust of many in WA-----this was well before Metrication. Maybe some other States may have kept their original drink sizes, but "pints" seem to have been all-conquering in WA. Interestingly, in my several later visits (post 2000) to Sydney & Melbourne, I never bought a beer, so my recent experience is all WA. Another place where I would argue that there has been a resurgence of Imperial measures is in hardware supplies. If you want to buy a few galvanised bolts in Bunnings, there are shelf after shelf of Imperial ones, but only a few of their Metric counterparts. I put it down to India, which is a huge (& very inexpensive) supplier of such hardware, being still largely Imperial. Of course, for most home projects it doesn't much matter. |
| Navigation |
| Message Index |
| Next page |
| Previous page |