I made this thread as an aside to the conversation that was going on earlier, about when a country has completed metrication.

So now to the point. Dont pubs in Ireland, both north and south serve draught beer be the pint still? Aren't troy ounces stills used in the precious metals market? If this is the case, will Ireland have completed it's metrication in january when all the road signs are supposed to be metric?

And what about things like plumbing? Pipes seem to last quite a while and I have no doubt that many existing systems have imperial sized pipes. So if imperial sized pipes are still used, is Southern Ireland metric?
Because obviously it is cheaper to fix an exising imperial pipe/sewer/water system with another imperial sized pipe than to have to dig them all up and replace then with metric ones.

Roth - this comes back to the argument that UKMA/USMA lie about - that there are only three countries in the world that are not metric (ie they are imperial) - and the UK is not one of them!!!

It's a metric lie - as per usual.

I refer to "non-countries" like the UK, Barbados, St Lucia and the Bahamas as examples of this.

And yes - the Irish do have pints in there pubs and lb/oz in their butchers - but I have already said this (many times)

The UK is according to the the former British Primer minister John Major now a metric country. He announced this in 1995.

So we are officially metric. However we have implemented the process of metrication very badly and we now operate, at many levels, in dual meaurements.

I regard this as unsatisfactory and a complete waste of time. No one benefits from a coherent system of measurements if it is mixed with incompatible units involving awkward conversions.

<<<Roth - this comes back to the argument that UKMA/USMA lie about - that there are only three countries in the world that are not metric (ie they are imperial) - and the UK is not one of them!!!

It's a metric lie - as per usual.

I refer to "non-countries" like the UK, Barbados, St Lucia and the Bahamas as examples of this.

And yes - the Irish do have pints in there pubs and lb/oz in their butchers - but I have already said this (many times)>>>

I agree. In this case for once the lie is from the metric side. Clearly there are more than 3 countries that are not metric.

For a country to be classed as metric, by far the biggest factor must be the road signs - so clearly the UK is not metric. Where you draw the line after that is a bit more difficult.

<<The UK is according to the the former British Primer minister John Major now a metric country. He announced this in 1995.>>

Right-o.
So John Major asked the people what measures they use in everyday life then?
And he buys his pizzas in cm sizes - just like the rest of us?
And those "m" signs on the motorway refer to "metres"
(and the examples go on and on)
What a profound statement he made, eh? That fine Prime Minister of our time.
Maybe Blair could "announce" that 'we're all europeans now' so that when we go abroad and , say, an american asks us where we're from we can say 'europe' because our elected prime minister told us so.

Stan - be honest with me - If John Major announced in 1995 what the UK was now officially a Conservatice country - would you have agreed with him? And if not - why not? After all, back then the state was Conservative controlled so the UK must have been a Conservative country, mustn't it?

To Andy who wrote: "I agree. In this case for once the lie is from the metric side. Clearly there are more than 3 countries that are not metric."

Thank you Thank you Thank you !

As a supporter of metric yourself it is great to hear you say that - nice to see a bit of integrity there.
It always winds me up, that one. What is worse is that the UKMA press released that statement to the media (BBC in particular) and they occasionally re-cycle that myth.

<<For a country to be classed as metric, by far the biggest factor must be the road signs - so clearly the UK is not metric. Where you draw the line after that is a bit more difficult. >>

being anti-statist I would say that the line must be drawn by a country's people.
Clearly if most people "talk" in imperial then what makes a country (ie its people) commands whether it is metric or not.

So on this level two examples woulf be Germany, which is metric and UK which is imperial.

Just because civil servents carry out things in metric (apart from roads and a few other things) does not make me or my country metric.

And civil servents will talk "in imperial" once they get home - making the whole thing artificial anyway.

"""I made this thread as an aside to the conversation that was going on earlier, about when a country has completed metrication.

So now to the point. Dont pubs in Ireland, both north and south serve draught beer be the pint still? Aren't troy ounces stills used in the precious metals market? If this is the case, will Ireland have completed it's metrication in january when all the road signs are supposed to be metric?

And what about things like plumbing? Pipes seem to last quite a while and I have no doubt that many existing systems have imperial sized pipes. So if imperial sized pipes are still used, is Southern Ireland metric?
Because obviously it is cheaper to fix an exising imperial pipe/sewer/water system with another imperial sized pipe than to have to dig them all up and replace then with metric ones."""


I'm sure if you make a big effort you can find a smathering of remnant products described in imperial. Many are hidden metric with imperial trade names.

As for pipes, the are called by imperial names, but the names don't match the actual size. Measure a half-inch pipe and don't be surprised in either the inner or outer diameter don't measure a half inch (13 mm) or even close to it. There is a metric naming scheme for pipes in which the pipe diameter is preceded by the letters DN. DN stands for Diameter Nominal. A half-inch pipe is designated DN15. Why not DN13? Because 15 mm is the truer inside diameter. Measure it yourself for proof.

You can also go do an internet search using the search words pipe and DN. You will get a view of the increasing use of metric terms replacing inch terms in plumbing and anywhere pipe is used. If there ever was an imperial pipe, then a metric pipe can be fitted to it with an adapter, as is done now when fitting newer sizes with older and PVC with copper.

The reason inch names for pipes don't match up to the actual sizes is because the pipes were originally the correct size, but they were modified (changed thickness, roughness, etc.) and they had to change the diameter to keep the flow properties the same.

<<The reason inch names for pipes don't match up to the actual sizes is because the pipes were originally the correct size, but they were modified (changed thickness, roughness, etc.) and they had to change the diameter to keep the flow properties the same.>>

Actually, quite the reverse. The "nominal" dimension was originally the ID. As pipe technology improved, OD was maintained to use the same fittings (well they became "bored out" too) and ID was increased by reducing wall thickness, smoothness was also increased, so flow in a modern pipe has almost no relationship to flow in "ancient" pipe of the same nominal size.

Either way, the names should have been changed to reflect the true size. Just goes to show you how unfriendly imperial is. They did the same thing with wood and possibly clothing sizes too.

Don't forget those sour apples too.

More like sour grapes.

It must be upsetting to have all your examples of imperial products shown not to be true to size.

OH, here is another example: Floppy disks. Called 3.5 inches in imperiasl but are actually 90 mm x 94 mm x 3.3 mm (per ISO 9529). Another fine example of VERIFYING .

Yeah. Totally upsetting.

Boo Hoo.

My flight's at 4.40pm.

BOO HOO!