Please explain Hitcher

[Finn]

I remember many years ago being forced to change from imperial to metric. I was maybe 5 at the time and after graduating from Kindergarten wondered what the point is of learning if they are going to change the rules all the time. Needless to say I left school on my 15th birthday.

35 years later, these pricks still can't make up their mind.

Take for example the following article in the Waikato Times.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/2369036/Foiled-robber-may-have-gunshot-wound

"The offender is described as a male Maori, of stocky build, about six foot tall."

Make up your mind.

P.S. I hope they shot the prick.

[FJRider]

Perhaps ..... that is how the witness described the offender... :innocent:

[Badjelly]

...35 years later, these pricks still can't make up their mind...

And who are "these pricks"?

PS: about 6 feet = about 180 cm

[pzkpfw]

I'm just glad my penis isn't 12 inches long.

[James Deuce]

No one can explain Hitcher.

[Badjelly]

No one can explain Hitcher.

He eats roots shoots and leaves.

Edit: Sorry, I got that wrong. He doesnt eat roots shoots and leaves.

[Finn]

PS: about 6 feet = about 180 cm

180 cubic metres? No wonder a bullet couldn't take him down.

[slofox]

180 cubic metres? No wonder a bullet couldn't take him down.

no no no no NO!!! centimetres is cm....cubic metres is m3

[MSTRS]

no no no no NO!!! centimetres is cm....cubic metres is m3

NO NO! M3 are tyres. Or BMWs.
No wonder Finn's confused....

[Skunk]

NO NO! M3 are tyres. Or BMWs.
No wonder Finn's confused....
What sort of measure is BMW?

[Finn]

What sort of measure is BMW?

A financial measure.

[madmal64]

What sort of measure is BMW?

No BMW is here on KB you all should know that

[Hitcher]

While I stand guilty of many crimes, I don't think that the inability of some parts of New Zealand society to embrace the metric system after more than 40 years is one of those.

It starts with babies you know. All born in pounds and ounces. Women's corsetry also contributes to this malaise.

[PrincessBandit]

While I stand guilty of many crimes, I don't think that the inability of some parts of New Zealand society to embrace the metric system after more than 40 years is one of those.

It starts with babies you know. All born in pounds and ounces. Women's corsetry also contributes to this malaise.

Most babies now are "graded" in metric, but ah yes, the old 42DD.... (not me by the way) Imagine the tongues hanging out if a bra size was 106.68DD :baby:

[Katman]

No wonder Finn's confused....

My 56 Plymouth had Finns.

[YellowDog]

And of course there is the good old HD motorcycles stating the size of their engines in cubic inches! It is such a bad idea that the Japs are starting to copy.

Imagine being from the UK. They sell fuel in litres, but state how many miles to the gallon their car can do.

They don't know the difference between a Ton and a Tonne, which is great if you are selling (not buying) and buy their meat in pounds and ounces; yet cook it in time per Kilo.

They weigh themselves in stone and ounces and all this to be the same as the American's who don't use Stone (pounds only) and have their own sized gallon.

And if your dick is less than six inches, you'd better keep your shorts on in the shower.

The UK can't change because the old people will get confused (like there will never be any old people to get confusted). No wonder the rest of Europe thinks the Poms are nuts.

[MSTRS]

Women's corsetry also contributes to this malaise.

As do tyres...180mm/55% x 17inches :eek5:

[The Stranger]

They don't know the difference between a Ton and a Tonne, which is great if you are selling (not buying) and buy their meat in pounds and ounces; yet cook it in time per Kilo.


F u c k a l l.

[Big Dave]

No one can explain Hitcher.

The Rider of the Apostrophclipse.

[Swoop]

No BMW is here on KB you all should know that
No! She is in the south island!!!:yes:

[Motu]

While I wouldn't ever want to go back to calculating in the old Imperial system (what a waste of all that schooling) - that fact that the old measuring system is still used,even by younger people....proves that the old standards just make mental sense,whereas the metric system isn't an easy fit in the brain.It's just too French for those who won't consider surrender....

[Mikkel]

What sort of measure is BMW?

Easy - 12/7 of a BTU. :yes:

[Edbear]

What sort of measure is BMW?

There's no substitute for cubes... ;)

[Trouser]

F u c k a l l.

Long or short. I wouldn't mind selling a short ton and calling it a tonne. 10% extra money for me please.

[Edbear]

Long or short. I wouldn't mind selling a short ton and calling it a tonne. 10% extra money for me please.

Well if it's a thrown ton rather than a stacked one... mind you you might be accused of stacking the odds in your favour... :yes:

[Forest]

The metric systems is just as arbitrary as the imperial system.

The reason imperial measurement is still used so much is because it relates to the human scale so well.

[pzkpfw]

The metric systems is just as arbitrary as the imperial system.

The reason imperial measurement is still used so much is because it relates to the human scale so well.

The basis of metric may be essentially arbitrary (though they tried to use meaningfull things [divide Earth to define metres...]) but after that it's at least consistent.

Inches per foot? Feet per yard? Yards per mile?

Similar for weight etc.

Hard for physics too - units of weight are different to units for mass (see "slug").


I'm "six foot three inches" though (not 1.93 or so metres) - but that's just habit.

[Motu]

6'3'' is easy to visualise,1.93 metres isn't.MPG is easy to visualise (for those who have used it),litres per 100km needs thinking about.If you want precision then metrics are the best,but for a quick mental assesment the old imperial system clicks into place.As we use metrics more (it's still new to me) somethings get imprinted...eg - plastic 20 litre containers are now standard packaging,we all know them.My tank holds 22 litres...so just a couple of litres bigger...yeah,ok,I can grasp that as a mental picture.

I has just discovered (after 55 years) that I am dislexic....they think in 3D pictures which was a bit of a clue as I thought everyone else did too.If I think 20 litres,I see a 20 litre Fuchs floating in the air.

[Ixion]

proper measurements is MUCH better cos you can measure things without having to have a digital funfillofimeter and a computer.

My pace is excatly one imperial yard. So I can always measure distance
A foot is , duh, a foot long. Easy to step out X number of feet .
My hand is precisely , duh again, one hand wide - four inches. You go measure a horse in metrodonglidangles without any equipment.

A beer glass contain one pint (that alone should make it obvious which is the better system. Who the hell wants to order a 478.7 millimuffin of Speights, please. )

In short the imperials system is better because it is based on universal and always availab le references. Whereas to measure anything in metrofarts you either have to have equipment or run around the world and do a massive arithmetical sum.

Avoirdupois FTW.

[Magua]

.MPG is easy to visualise (for those who have used it),litres per 100km needs thinking about.

Litres per 100km is a daft measurement. I don't know why we didn't go from Miles per gallon to Kilometers per litre.

[Big Dave]

10 easy. 12 silly.

RM can count to 23 if he takes his socks off.

[mister.koz]

In short the imperials system is better because it is based on universal and always availab le references. Whereas to measure anything in metrofarts you either have to have equipment or run around the world and do a massive arithmetical sum.


*cough* old *cough* :whistle:

Everything based on 10 makes more sense to an untainted mind (10 fingers, 11 toes etc), 12's are only good for those who calculate in circles or those who have had 12's jammed down their through in the short stint at the cool playhouse of learning.

Or of course those really weird people who do maths over multi-bases unary/binary/trinary/quactal/pental/hexal/heptal/octal/noctal/decimal/hexadecimal/tridecibinary and then there's always apples and banana's.

A pint is different to a pint (because american beer is weaker), a ton is different to a tonne, the imperial measurement system isn't standardized at all (apart from its origins of the origonal yard stick which was the distance from some king's nose to the tip of his knob).

Why not go the discovery channel way and say that the hill was as tall as 14.3 jumbo jets stacked end to end on their wingtips?

[mujambee]

... No wonder the rest of Europe thinks the Poms are nuts.

NO. Do you really believe we think that? ;)



Litres per 100km is a daft measurement. I don't know why we didn't go from Miles per gallon to Kilometers per litre.

MpG or Km/l measure efficiency, that's an engineering point of view.

Litres per 100Km measure cost, that's a user point of view.

How much gas will you use on that trip? Divide distance by 100 (easy) and multiply by l/Km.

[The Stranger]

Long or short. I wouldn't mind selling a short ton and calling it a tonne. 10% extra money for me please.


There are 2205 lb in a tonne and 2240 lb in a ton - that isn't 10%.
Forget the stupid US measurements, they bastardise every measure they get their hands on and thus can't be relied upon.
Just look at dates (for but one example).
They display time from the longest unit to the shortest, yet dates is all jumbled. Then to avoid confusion invent a "new system" of year/month/day. Why not just use the same system as the rest of the world to avoid confusion? Why create confusion to avoid confusion? Fucked if I know, they're fucken stupid!
Our imperial system was never American.

[Clockwork]

Not sure if it's imperial or metric but I've always felt breasts should be measured in BSH's

British Standard Handful

I'll provide the standard hand.

[Pixie]

Usually,where an American measurement,spelling etc. differs from the current English equivalent,it is because the American one is the original English variation and in the interim the poms have changed their version- usually on a whim.

e.g. aluminum was the original spelling by the English discoverer of the element.

Exceptions are Franklin's attempt to rationalise spelling - e.g. color

[ManDownUnder]

Not sure if it's imperial or metric but I've always felt breasts should be measured in BSH's

British Standard Handful

I'll provide the standard hand.

Strongly disagree - Standard Mouthfuls (SM) is the way to go - and what are the chances... I have the standard mouth!

Line to the left ladies... gents - don't let the door hit you in the bum

[Clockwork]

Well you know what they say..... anything more than 1 BSH is a waste but I reckon my hand would be bigger than your mouth.


(unless you're an Aussie of course)

[martybabe]

Standardise shmanderdise, no one is completely metric or imperial are they ?

My kids have been metric all their lives, but when asked they are 6 foot 2 inches and fourteen stone or whatever.

At the timber yard I get 3 metre lengths of of 2x4 (inches). The chap doing my fence is running it from 1.8 metres down to 4 foot.:crazy:

What happened to hundred weights.

My wife travels in KGs as in, I was doing 95 kilograms an hour in a 100 Kilogram zone.

Don't blame us we're poms, distance is measured in miles but if you sell veges in Pounds and ounces you get locked up. Whatever works for you I say

[Swoop]

Forget the stupid US measurements, they bastardise every measure they get their hands on and thus can't be relied upon.
Just look at dates (for but one example).
The rest of the world is still wondering what actually happened in America, on the ninth of November 2001...

[Badjelly]

Litres per 100km is a daft measurement. I don't know why we didn't go from Miles per gallon to Kilometers per litre.

I disagree that Litres per 100 km is a daft measurement. Agreed it's a bit of a mouthful, but it's a measure of fuel consumption rather than its inverse (fuel economy), which makes more sense. If I asked you to weigh an orange and you come back with the number of these oranges that would make up 1 kilogram, I'd tell you to stop being daft.

It's just a question of getting used to it, which many people don't want to do. The claim that mpg is a more intuitive unit than L per 100 km is similar to the claim that the pound is more intuitive than the kilogram: bollocks. It's a question of what people are used to.

If you prefer to deal with fuel economy, then km/L is fine. Just remember the scales cross at 10 (10 L/100 km = 10 km/L) and one doubles as the other halves. Having used both measurements for a while, i find that L/100 km fits my mind better as time passes.

[Badjelly]

My pace is exactly one imperial yard. So I can always measure distance. A foot is , duh, a foot long. Easy to step out X number of feet. My hand is precisely , duh again, one hand wide - four inches. You go measure a horse in metrodonglidangles without any equipment.

So you think nobody's noticed your clever subverting of the argument you purport to be making?

A mile is 1/20 the distance a legion can walk in a day, or is that a league? A chain is the length of a cricket pitch. A cubit is the length from someone's elbow to his finger. A furlong is some other thing. So now we have eight bloody units to measure distance, and we've barely started. An inch is 1/12 the length of my penis. A parsec is ...

[Mikkel]

The metric systems is just as arbitrary as the imperial system.

Well, if you only consider it the "metric" system then yes I suppose you are right. On the other hand - if you consider the whole system of SI units it does make a lot of sense. It gets rid of all the nasty constants in the equations.

Funnily enough - if Henry I had only had an arm that was ~8.5 cm longer the metric system would have been invented 600 years earlier :) How is that for arbitrary?


The basis of metric may be essentially arbitrary (though they tried to use meaningfull things [divide Earth to define metres...]) but after that it's at least consistent.

Inches per foot? Feet per yard? Yards per mile?

Similar for weight etc.

Hard for physics too - units of weight are different to units for mass (see "slug").

The meter is, IIRC, founded upon being 1/10.000 of the distance from equator to the north pole.

The imperial system is extremely clever when you have a reasonable tolerance for error and no calculators. All the units can typically be divided by 2, 3, 4 - some even by 7 and 11. This makes it possible to quite easily approximate Pi (22/7) using the different measures.

In this day and age engineering demands precision on such a scale that you will need a calculator anyway - and then the advantage of the imperial system becomes a bother instead. Length - one measure - the meter and if it doesn't fit what you are looking at fit a prefix (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SI_unit#Units) of your liking.
And the same prefixes are valid for every other measure in the SI system. The only weird thing is that the SI unit for mass is kilograms not grams - but that's about it really.

What's so nice about the SI system is how the units relate, consider the equations: 1) force equals mass times acceleration, 2) work (energy) equals force times distance:

F = m*a <=> [N] = [kg]*[m/s^2]
E = F*dx <=> [J] = [N]*[m] = [kg*(m/s)^2]

No conversion factors needed. I wouldn't even dare to try and write down the equivalents for imperial units :no:


As for being better able to relate to the units - that's bullshit. Nothing but tradition and conditioning. I have a better grasp of what 1.83 meter is than what 6 foot is, simply because I grew up in a place where only the SI system was used. If you want to be able to do precise measurements using your own body you'd need to measure yourself in advance - whether you use metric or imperial.

[Ixion]

As for being better able to relate to the units - that's bullshit. Nothing but tradition and conditioning. I have a better grasp of what 1.83 meter is than what 6 foot is, simply because I grew up in a place where only the SI system was used...

But we can't be expected to accommodate people from FornParts. They have all sorts of weird notions. Where would it all end. Half of them don't even drink tea. British is Best, we all know that, so it would be much better for them to change their silly systems to sensible Imperial ones.

[Big Dave]

(unless you're an Aussie of course)

That's pretty good. Retort when I think of one.

[martybabe]

Standardise shmanderdise, no one is completely metric or imperial are they ?

My kids have been metric all their lives, but when asked they are 6 foot 2 inches and fourteen stone or whatever.

At the timber yard I get 3 metre lengths of of 2x4 (inches). The chap doing my fence is running it from 1.8 metres down to 4 foot.:crazy:

What happened to hundred weights.

My wife travels in KGs as in, I was doing 95 kilograms an hour in a 100 Kilogram zone.

Don't blame us we're poms, distance is measured in miles but if you sell veges in Pounds and ounces you get locked up. Whatever works for you I say

[Badjelly]

What happened to hundred weights?

You know, I'd completely forgotten them! We were taught about them in my youth, and they were in fairly common use, I think. In case any of you young-uns doesn't know what the hell we're talking about, here's the word (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hundred_weight) from Wikipedia:

* In Imperial units, a hundredweight ('long') is defined as 112 pounds avoirdupois, or 8 stone, or four quarters (50.80234544 kg). This is so close to 50 kg that the transition to metric equivalents has been easy.
* In U.S. customary units, a hundredweight ('short') is defined as 100 pounds (equivalent to 45.359237 kg). The short hundredweight is also the normal hundredweight in Canada.
o The short hundredweight is also called a cental, especially in places which normally use the long hundredweight.

Easy, eh? Just remember the "hundred" in hundredweight means 112. Or 100 for the short one, which is the normal one in Canada.

Edit: Oops, I forgot to mention the old hundred, which was 108.

[Ixion]

You know, I'd completely forgotten them! We were taught about them in my youth, and they were in fairly common use, I think. In case any of you young-uns doesn't know what the hell we're talking about, here's the word (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hundred_weight) from Wikipedia:
* In Imperial units, a hundredweight ('long') is defined as 112 pounds avoirdupois, or 8 stone, or four quarters (50.80234544 kg). This is so close to 50 kg that the transition to metric equivalents has been easy.
* In U.S. customary units, a hundredweight ('short') is defined as 100 pounds (equivalent to 45.359237 kg). The short hundredweight is also the normal hundredweight in Canada.
o The short hundredweight is also called a cental, especially in places which normally use the long hundredweight.
Easy, eh? Just remember the "hundred" in hundredweight means 112. Or 100 for the short one, which is the normal one in Canada.

See ! It is just SO easy. Each cwt contains four (duh) quarters. hell, even an Aussie could grasp that. And each quarter has two stones. Well, duh, again, how many do *you* have? Hardly likely to forget that , are you? And everybody knows that a stone weighs 14 lb, so it's just basic arithmetic.

And Canadians have always been short , in lots of ways, eh?

[Clockwork]

That's pretty good. Retort when I think of one.

I didn't wish to offend you BD but I figured an Aussie living in NZ would be bound to have a pretty thick skin. :2thumbsup

[mynameis]

I remember many years ago being forced to change from imperial to metric. I was maybe 5 at the time and after graduating from Kindergarten wondered what the point is of learning if they are going to change the rules all the time. Needless to say I left school on my 15th birthday.

35 years later, these pricks still can't make up their mind.

Take for example the following article in the Waikato Times.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/2369036/Foiled-robber-may-have-gunshot-wound

"The offender is described as a male Maori, of stocky build, about six foot tall."

Make up your mind.

P.S. I hope they shot the prick.

Sound pretty young mate, you wouldn't know what 6 foot is Finn, com on hahaha :laugh:


Most babies now are "graded" in metric, but ah yes, the old 42DD.... (me by the way) Imagine the tongues hanging out if a bra size was 106.68DD :baby:

42DD I don't believe it, show me your tits.