General > General Technical Chat

UK back to "imperial" measurements ?

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tooki:

--- Quote from: IanB on May 30, 2022, 08:28:18 am ---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?

--- End quote ---
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.

tooki:

--- Quote from: nightfire on May 31, 2022, 09:35:06 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.

--- End quote ---
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!”.)

TimFox:

--- Quote from: IanB on May 30, 2022, 08:28:18 am ---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?

--- End quote ---

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".

penfold:
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.

TimFox:
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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