Comment on xkcd #3164: Metric Tip
guy_threepwood@lemmy.world 3 days ago
The UK….yeah
Distance in miles but fuel in litres so miles per gallon figures that we are given are basically just a scale to compare against other cars.
Except on our roads some things are actually in metric, like if a sign says “100 yards” that’s actually 100 meters, since it was the first step in converting everything to metric (which we appear to have given up on)
Beer and milk are in Pints…but some places now do milk in litres.
Shops must sell loose items in metric, but are also allowed to sell them in imperial
I grew up being taught in both, but was told that metric was the future so not to worry too much about imperial, so I confuse the number of ounces in a pound quite often, amongst other things
Where I work, the vast majority of things are metric…except very old drawings, which sometimes use yards.
Honestly I would prefer we just switch to metric and stay there, but the road sign argument is “cost” and even 20 years ago that was quite valid.
so I confuse the number of ounces in a pound quite often, amongst other things
When do you need to use either of these?
I know the number of pounds in a kilo so I can understand the Americans when they talk about weightlifting and how much people weigh. I don’t think I’ve ever used an ounce in my life.
If you look up cooking or baking recipes and get American ones you’ll see oz a lot, I have found
Baking is a big one yes. Not just American recipes - old British ones too. And there are various useful estimations you can use too; one egg is about an ounce. Three ounces each of flour, sugar, butter plus three eggs makes a pretty good Victoria sponge which fits nicely in a 12cm baking tin.
The madness continues
When do you need to use either of these?
Old recipe books
PieMePlenty@lemmy.world 3 days ago
Do car speedometers have miles/hr or km/h?
MyNameIsRichard@lemmy.ml 3 days ago
Both
Deebster@infosec.pub 1 day ago
Often both! Miles on the outside as the main display, but km can be found on a smaller inner ring