Author Topic: UK back to "imperial" measurements ?  (Read 15270 times)

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Offline jc101

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Re: UK back to "imperial" measurements ?
« Reply #75 on: May 31, 2022, 03:30:48 pm »
Once the tabloid press publishes that Diesel is now over £8 per gallon in the UK, people will think a bit differently!  I don't think Boris will want that getting out...
 

Offline nctnico

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Re: UK back to "imperial" measurements ?
« Reply #76 on: May 31, 2022, 04:04:47 pm »
Once the tabloid press publishes that Diesel is now over £8 per gallon in the UK, people will think a bit differently!  I don't think Boris will want that getting out...
Nahh, Bojo will re-define the UK gallon to the size of a pint. Problem solved!
There are small lies, big lies and then there is what is on the screen of your oscilloscope.
 

Offline BravoVTopic starter

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Re: UK back to "imperial" measurements ?
« Reply #77 on: May 31, 2022, 06:21:58 pm »
Once the tabloid press publishes that Diesel is now over £8 per gallon in the UK, people will think a bit differently!  I don't think Boris will want that getting out...

As UK imports almost everything, be prepared.

-> British pound is taking on ‘emerging market’ characteristics, Bank of America says

Quotes :

Sterling is in danger of becoming an “emerging market” currency as falling growth and growing risks cause investors to flee the pound, according to Bank of America.

As of Tuesday afternoon in Europe, sterling was down 7% against the dollar year-to-date, trading just below $1.26 having been as low as $1.22 earlier this month.

Online themadhippy

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Re: UK back to "imperial" measurements ?
« Reply #78 on: May 31, 2022, 06:43:37 pm »
Quote
sterling was down 7% against the dollar year-to-date, trading just below $1.26
All part of doris's plan to ensure the uk and usa  trade on an equal footing,he hopes to  reach a level ruger playing field of  £1=$1 by the end of the year
 

Offline eugene

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Re: UK back to "imperial" measurements ?
« Reply #79 on: May 31, 2022, 07:34:38 pm »
I recall a story in the news a while back, where some Continental-style café/bars in the UK were trying to sell beer by the 500 ml glass, as is traditional in Europe. The law came down on them like a ton (or tonne?) of bricks and said they were not allowed to do that.

I have to admit that I find that baffling. No, not baffling, pointless and stupid. It's a pointless and stupid law made by pointless and stupid legislators.

Quote
On a related note, can any US members remember buying a pint of whiskey?

Liquor comes in specific size containers, all metric, but many are meant to be close to imperial sizes that alcoholics we have become accustomed to.

250 ml
375 ml (often called a pint)
500 ml
750 ml (quart)
1000 ml
1750 ml (half gallon, though the really old guys call it a handle.)

EDIT: in bars, poured liquor comes in units of a "shot" but nobody knows how much that is!!!  :-DD My point is that nobody tries to dictate how much gets poured at a time. You can ask for a mixed drink with 1 shot, or sqrt(2) ounces, or any reasonable number of milliliters. The bartender will probably complain that they can only measure shots, but no pointless stupid laws dictate that they can only dispense in shots


Beer (in bottles or cans) is still sold by the ounce. In some cases the traditional 12 oz size has been replaced with 11.5 oz. Microbreweries sell refillable 1/2 gallon (64 oz) bottles they call a growler.

Draft beer at bars are by the glass, sometimes with large and small options, sometimes with the large being a full pint. No regulations, except possibly for some maximum size that I'm not aware of.

It all goes down the same for me!
« Last Edit: May 31, 2022, 11:38:10 pm by eugene »
90% of quoted statistics are fictional
 

Offline TimFox

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Re: UK back to "imperial" measurements ?
« Reply #80 on: May 31, 2022, 07:38:17 pm »
Before changing to metric bottles, I believe whiskey was available in both “fifths” (1/5 US gallon) and full quarts, as well as US pints.
 

Offline bd139

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Re: UK back to "imperial" measurements ?
« Reply #81 on: May 31, 2022, 07:54:32 pm »
Had a short and sweet discussion about this with a friend of mine earlier. She's in her 60s. She said it's retarded and can only conclude that it's aimed at the poorly educated country folk  :-DD
 

Online CatalinaWOW

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Re: UK back to "imperial" measurements ?
« Reply #82 on: May 31, 2022, 08:02:40 pm »
During university one of the gigs I did to pay bills was clerking at a liquor store. We sold many individual pints to a variety of customers.  And a few customers came in regularly and ordered a case of pints.  Thirty two.  They ran unlicenced bars and dance halls and resold them to their patrons (hypothetically).
 

Offline TimFox

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Re: UK back to "imperial" measurements ?
« Reply #83 on: May 31, 2022, 08:03:44 pm »
The usual US pint bottle was the right size to go in a gentleman's back pants pocket.
Half-pint bottles were for lower-class purchasers.
« Last Edit: May 31, 2022, 09:11:52 pm by TimFox »
 

Offline PlainName

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Re: UK back to "imperial" measurements ?
« Reply #84 on: May 31, 2022, 09:10:20 pm »
I recall a story in the news a while back, where some Continental-style café/bars in the UK were trying to sell beer by the 500 ml glass, as is traditional in Europe. The law came down on them like a ton (or tonne?) of bricks and said they were not allowed to do that.

I have to admit that I find that baffling. No, not baffling, pointless and stupid. It's a pointless and stupid law made by pointless and stupid legislators.

I think it might have been because unscrupulous vendors would switch to the smaller measure but  not reduce the price in proportion. Or at all. If someone asks for a pint they should get a full pint, not something that looks like one but isn't.
 

Offline TimFox

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Re: UK back to "imperial" measurements ?
« Reply #85 on: May 31, 2022, 09:13:16 pm »
One thing I learned to appreciate in Germany were the calibration lines on the side of glassware for alcoholic beverages.
At a high-class restaurant, the wine glasses had nicely-etched calibrations.
Is there a reason why Europeans like to use "cl" instead of "ml" for their beverages?
 

Online coppice

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Re: UK back to "imperial" measurements ?
« Reply #86 on: May 31, 2022, 09:18:53 pm »
One thing I learned to appreciate in Germany were the calibration lines on the side of glassware for alcoholic beverages.
At a high-class restaurant, the wine glasses had nicely-etched calibrations.
Is there a reason why Europeans like to use "cl" instead of "ml" for their beverages?
Because if the number is 10x bigger they feel worse about the booze sodden ways.
 

Online Benta

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Re: UK back to "imperial" measurements ?
« Reply #87 on: May 31, 2022, 09:21:43 pm »
Is there a reason why Europeans like to use "cl" instead of "ml" for their beverages?
That's only for high-percetage stuff... you know, Schnapps, Korn etc. Standard measure is 2 cl, a double is 4 cl.
Bubbly, wine, beer are all in litres: 0.1, 0.2, 0.5, 1 l...
 

Online coppice

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Re: UK back to "imperial" measurements ?
« Reply #88 on: May 31, 2022, 09:23:38 pm »
Is there a reason why Europeans like to use "cl" instead of "ml" for their beverages?
That's only for high-percetage stuff... you know, Schnapps, Korn etc. Standard measure is 2 cl, a double is 4 cl.
Bubbly, wine, beer are all in litres: 0.1, 0.2, 0.5, 1 l...
Most wine bottles are labelled in cl.
 

Offline nightfire

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Re: UK back to "imperial" measurements ?
« Reply #89 on: May 31, 2022, 09:35:06 pm »
Is there a reason why Europeans like to use "cl" instead of "ml" for their beverages?
That's only for high-percetage stuff... you know, Schnapps, Korn etc. Standard measure is 2 cl, a double is 4 cl.
Bubbly, wine, beer are all in litres: 0.1, 0.2, 0.5, 1 l...
My explanation would be that the numbers are therefore in the one-digit range and are comprehensible- so that no-one has to sya "20ml" please.
Also you order in germany your beer whether as half-liter, or 0,2/0,3/0,4 in a restaurant, and not 200ml/300ml/400ml.

Also you say usually centimeter, and not 10 millimeter- probably a habit of having usable sizes, and not overly precise stuff ordinary people cannot measure by eye...
 

Online themadhippy

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Re: UK back to "imperial" measurements ?
« Reply #90 on: May 31, 2022, 10:07:32 pm »
Quote
Also you order in germany your beer whether as half-liter, or 0,2/0,3/0,4
ein grocers beer ,bitter.  saves all the confusion
 

Online IanB

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Re: UK back to "imperial" measurements ?
« Reply #91 on: June 01, 2022, 03:12:14 am »
I think it might have been because unscrupulous vendors would switch to the smaller measure but  not reduce the price in proportion. Or at all. If someone asks for a pint they should get a full pint, not something that looks like one but isn't.

That might be why the law exists, but the problem was the "specified quantities" law for draft beer. It is only permitted to sell draft beer by the pint (or third, half, two thirds or multiples thereof).

https://www.gov.uk/weights-measures-and-packaging-the-law/specified-quantities
 

Offline james_s

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Re: UK back to "imperial" measurements ?
« Reply #92 on: June 01, 2022, 04:27:32 am »
I think it might have been because unscrupulous vendors would switch to the smaller measure but  not reduce the price in proportion. Or at all. If someone asks for a pint they should get a full pint, not something that looks like one but isn't.

If only that were the case. A "half gallon" carton of ice cream is nowhere near half a gallon anymore. They get smaller periodically in a lame attempt to conceal price increases.

https://www.mouseprint.org/2008/05/12/ice-cream-scoop-major-brands-downsize-again/comment-page-1/
« Last Edit: June 01, 2022, 04:30:09 am by james_s »
 
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Online Zero999

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Re: UK back to "imperial" measurements ?
« Reply #93 on: June 01, 2022, 07:55:02 am »
Is there a reason why Europeans like to use "cl" instead of "ml" for their beverages?
That's only for high-percetage stuff... you know, Schnapps, Korn etc. Standard measure is 2 cl, a double is 4 cl.
Bubbly, wine, beer are all in litres: 0.1, 0.2, 0.5, 1 l...
My explanation would be that the numbers are therefore in the one-digit range and are comprehensible- so that no-one has to sya "20ml" please.
Also you order in germany your beer whether as half-liter, or 0,2/0,3/0,4 in a restaurant, and not 200ml/300ml/400ml.

Also you say usually centimeter, and not 10 millimeter- probably a habit of having usable sizes, and not overly precise stuff ordinary people cannot measure by eye...
1, 2, 5 is a common geometric progression. It would make sense to adopt a more finer sequence for standard can/bottle sizes i.e 150ml, 200ml, 330ml, 500ml, 700ml, 1l, 1.5l, 2l because only making a limited number of sizes is cheaper.
 

Offline eugene

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Re: UK back to "imperial" measurements ?
« Reply #94 on: June 01, 2022, 03:06:09 pm »
Is there a reason why Europeans like to use "cl" instead of "ml" for their beverages?
That's only for high-percetage stuff... you know, Schnapps, Korn etc. Standard measure is 2 cl, a double is 4 cl.
Bubbly, wine, beer are all in litres: 0.1, 0.2, 0.5, 1 l...
My explanation would be that the numbers are therefore in the one-digit range and are comprehensible- so that no-one has to sya "20ml" please.
Also you order in germany your beer whether as half-liter, or 0,2/0,3/0,4 in a restaurant, and not 200ml/300ml/400ml.

Also you say usually centimeter, and not 10 millimeter- probably a habit of having usable sizes, and not overly precise stuff ordinary people cannot measure by eye...

Seems silly to order 0.2/0.3/0.4 liters when you could more easily order 2/3/4 deciliters, no?
90% of quoted statistics are fictional
 

Offline tooki

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Re: UK back to "imperial" measurements ?
« Reply #95 on: June 01, 2022, 03:26:18 pm »
Here in the USA I do like being able to ask for "half a pound" of something at the deli counter. I never could get used to "quarter of a kilogram" or "250 grams".

If you went to Tesco and asked for "a quarter of the farmhouse cheddar" would that automatically be understood as 250 g these days?
For what it’s worth, even here in Switzerland, which has been metric for a long time, you can go to a cheese counter and ask for a half pound (“Pfund”) and get around 250g. I don’t think younger people are as familiar with it, but older folks certainly are.
 

Offline tooki

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Re: UK back to "imperial" measurements ?
« Reply #96 on: June 01, 2022, 03:30:15 pm »
Also you order in germany your beer whether as half-liter, or 0,2/0,3/0,4 in a restaurant, and not 200ml/300ml/400ml.
Does Germany have names for the sizes? German speaking Switzerland does: “es Grosses” for a 5dl (except for cheapskate places where it’s a 4dl; the exact sizes must be displayed on the menu), “e Stange” for a 3dl, and the adorable “es Herrgöttli” for a 2dl. (For those who don’t speak German, it means “a little Dear Lord!”.)
 

Offline TimFox

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Re: UK back to "imperial" measurements ?
« Reply #97 on: June 01, 2022, 03:57:19 pm »
Here in the USA I do like being able to ask for "half a pound" of something at the deli counter. I never could get used to "quarter of a kilogram" or "250 grams".

If you went to Tesco and asked for "a quarter of the farmhouse cheddar" would that automatically be understood as 250 g these days?

My comment on an older post:
Sometime around 1980, my local supermarket installed new electronic scales at the deli counter that read out in decimal pounds (to two decimal places).
I would normally buy a pound of sliced meat to make five lunches per week, but that week I would be out of town for two days.
I asked the young lady for "six tenths of a pound".  No response.
I then asked her for "zero point six pounds".  No response.
Repeat:  "zero point six pounds, like it reads out on the scale".  No response.
Finally, I asked her for "9.5 ounces":  She went to the back room where there was a conversion table posted, and finally gave me what I needed.
There was an older lady there with a German accent, and I joked with her that it was just like the Olympics:  "Null Komma sechs".
 

Offline penfold

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Re: UK back to "imperial" measurements ?
« Reply #98 on: June 01, 2022, 04:40:26 pm »
I can't say I have a particular objection to a re-normalisation of imperial units in day-to-day useage, so long as they'll be kind when it comes to cost-to-weight comparisons... asking how many £/lb or lb/£ could get tedious.
 

Offline TimFox

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Re: UK back to "imperial" measurements ?
« Reply #99 on: June 01, 2022, 04:54:00 pm »
During a lengthy business trip to England, before I retired, I ran up a large bill at the hotel (including meals):  2200 GBP, a ton(ne) of money.
Leaving Chicago for that trip with too many tools in my checked bag, I was charged 50 USD for being 10 lb av overweight, and I complained about the exchange rate.
 


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