American Couple Reacts: Is The Metric System Actually Better?? UK & Majority of The World Agree??

[@grahvis]

I worked in architectural modelmaking in the 70s when standard scales change from imperial to metris. It is not hard to see that 1:200 is a lot easier than 1/16" to a foot. It would be easy to change product labels, all that would need to be done is start printing them with both imperial and metric amounts, then after a few years, just drop the imperial, Quantities could be changed as convenient.

[@GH-oi2jf]

Surveying and civil engineering in the US is commonly done in feet and hundredths, so you can draw a 1:200 scale diagram in feet as easily as in mètres.

[@johanwittens7712]

​​@@GH-oi2jfBut then you need to convert those feet to inches or to yards, and all hell breaks loose. And god forbid you need to start calculating volumes of concrete and how much that means in pounds of cement, stone mixture and water. Metric is better and easier. Plain and simple. Yes using one unit like feet is easy in imperial, but once you start using multiple units of the same measuring unit like length it gets incredibly confusing and messy, and you need a bunch of conversion numbers. In metric all you do is move the decimal point. I can draw a blueprint in meters and without even thinking convert it to centimeter, millimeter or even kilometer by simply moving the decimal point. And if you start calculating between units of measurement like from length to volume to weight or even mass, the imperial system is one giant conversion mess riddled with inaccuracies and mistakes waiting to happen. In metric, all you do is a simple calculation and maybe move the decimal point. That's it.

[@curropataqui]

@@GH-oi2jf And how much would be that in ears or nails ¿?. More countries had empires and different medieval measures, but all of them were not so stubborn and adopted the best and less complicated method..., the metric system.

[@lucianorosarelli-xr5lr]

@@curropataqui how many country use an ass hole sistem ? hihihihihihihih

[@jogie63]

@@grahvis Yes, maby it is not hard to covert, but it takes time and is a risk. Both is a very expensive factor.

[@neiljohnson7630]

Metric was fully introduced in Australia in 1974. So we still use both especially older Aussies but metric just makes so much sense. From what I know the US was very close to introducing metric in the mid 70’s

[@steveallen3434]

Like England, there will come a time when people will just think in metric a few more generations maybe Just like cash will be a thing of the past and but I think the pint of beer will survive

[@stephenpavy2501]

I was in primary school when metric came in, I remember we had clear stickers to put on speedometers to hide miles and put kph Although we use metric now, imperial is still used in wheel sizes. In bikes and cars etc, and 20mpg is easier to envision than 10Lper100km but since we don't by gallons the litre makes some sense but mpg was better. But length measurement in imperial are too much work. Metric is 1 to 10 to 100 etc

[@oleurgast730]

Actually screen sizes worldwide mostly use inches. 22'' monitor, 27'' monitor and so on. There were even legal discussions if it is allowed to use this in advertisement of a product here in germany, and court desicsion was quite wise: As long as the real size in metric is given in techinical description, the "inch" measurement can be considerated as an "name" for the class of size. Up until now, still inch is used wourldwide for monitor sizes. Some measurents of course just silently changed their meaning: As a pound is a bit (50g) less than half a kilogram and this hardly matters in recipies, many people use "pound" - thinking about half a kilogram. Actually they feel tricked if getting a real pound (and yes, it is a problem, as due to inceasing food prices, some vendors now sell 450 (453)g packages in the same design formerly used for 500g packages, just recognicable by the label on the bottom). Another historical unit is the bavarian "Maß", the unit beer is measured in. Originaly it was 1,069l. It was actually leagaly (baverian local laws) changed to be 1l to comply with international trading standard. Actually one big point missed in the videos: It's not about two systems of units. Its about hundreds of them. Every country, sometimes even smaler regions have their own measurements. A "Fuß" (foot) in bavaria was not the same as in preußen. Actualy they the didn't use their foot but the "elle" (Ell) for textile and and "Schritt" (steps) for traveling distances. Miles were also diferent in diferent countrys and defined by steps. The joke about "made by people marying their cousins" actually isn't a joke. The reason the system worked in Europe somehow simply was the reference units didn't differ to much, as reference was the lengh of the step of the monarch, or his foot or his ell. As the monarchs mary only other monarchs and were multiple related to each other, so from a very limited gene poole, the difference in units was in a way limited and accaptable.

[@aorta538]

Shops in Belgium still use/show there prices in Francs and euro's now-a-day... 🤣

Metric was introduced in Germany in 1872. Yes, I have the "luck of the late birth" (as one (in)famous chancellor once said :D). I was born almost 100 years after that, but I grew up with "pound" (Pfund). Although… that was/is a not-really-official unit that's exactly 500 g (and not some older "pound" which did exist before 1872 in Germany). And it's for convenience more than "clinging to some old unit". I often went to the butcher as a kid, buying a "quarter pound" of cold cuts.

[@jogie63]

It's expensive to change a country to metric. It's much more expensive to keep an old style and complicated system.

[@CatherinePuce]

True, beside other country managed that. It didn't ruined them.

[@MrSpirit99]

Every sane company that exports stuff or has any connection to science uses metric. Would be much more expensive to convert everything all the time.

[@jaimesilva1990]

Customary isn't as complicated as people make it out to be. Everything can stem from the inch. 12 inches in a foot, 5280 feet in a mile. Besides it would cost trillions to change all highway signs to metric given how big the U.S is. And it would cost a lot to change all cars and pump stations to metric too. We learn both systems in school and neither are difficult so changing wouldn't benefit us. And customary units are still very good for hands-on work. Tiles are typically exactly 1ft² and doorways are typically exactly 7ft. Stud distance is also exactly 16 inches from the center, or 1 and 1/3rd feet or 1ft 4 inches. The customary units are good for working with because many of the units have many factors. Metric is base 10, so the only factors are 2, 5 and 10. Feet use 12 inches so 12 has factors of 2,3,4,6. Each inch can be broken up 16 times. 16 can be factored by 2, 4, 8 and 16 and it can be thought of as simply a next step above 12. You can cut an inch by halves 4 times before getting weird decimals. You can't do that with cm or meters. If you're doing fast work that is hands on, customary is very useful. Many people who do woodworking and hands on crafts work like that learn customary just because of its convenience in use. People like to act like it's really complicated when it's not. By the way, a mile is about 2000 steps or 1000 paces. It's pretty accurate for estimating walking distance and time to take walking as most people walk 1mile every 20 minutes. So 3mph. By the way, 5280 feet is evenly divisible by 2,3,4,5,6,8,10,11,12, 15, 16, 22, 24. We act like this system that's pretty much base 12 is complicated when no one complains about 24 hours in a complete day, 12 hours in a day, 60 minutes an hour, 60 seconds a minute. All that can be broken up by 12s well, but when people see customary units that are the same it's suddenly confusing???

[@jogie63]

@@jaimesilva1990 I can see beside the street in USA: next Exit 1/2 Mile Short time later: next Exit 500 Yards My car shows in in Miles/h And now? Sorry, I am confused. In Metric Next Exit 1000m Later: Next Exit 500m My car Shows my speed im km/h No calculation. Just an Information I can understand

[@jaimesilva1990]

@@jogie63 I've never seen a sign in yards. Just miles and 1/2 mile, 1/4 mile.

[@RelativelyBest]

As a European who's done woodworking, blacksmithing and other crafts where you want to measure small things, I can only say that it would be a nightmare to work with Imperial measurements. I don't understand how you guys manage without the millimeter, and my mind rebels at any measurement below the inch. One sixteenth of an inch? Three eights? _What?_

[@GH-oi2jf]

One way we manage to work with small things is to use a rule marked inches and divided in hundredths. A hundredth is about a quarter millimeter and is about as fine as you can read an ordinary rule. We could use the .05 marks, which is about a millimeter and a quarter. To work finer than .01 inch we would use machine tools and calipers. Machinists commonly work at a precision of thousandths, but can work at “tenths” (0.0001 inch).

[@RelativelyBest]

@@GH-oi2jf Ah. So, basically, when you need very precise measurements you start using numbers divisible by 10 rather than 8? Sounds familiar. :D

[@mickpalmer6213]

Invented by people who married their cousins 😂😂😂😂

[@LordAizen-1307]

​@@RelativelyBestbruh you killed it with that answer 😂

[@stephenkayll5241]

I am also a UK native 70 years old and used "Imperial" ( inches, pounds etc) measurement at school, hated it. Then went onto further education ( 17+ years) and was at the change in the UK to Metric in the early 70's and had to learn a new method/concept of measurement. I quickly realised it was much simpler, therefore easier to use. I work in architecture and can think in both measurements, I know 20ft = 6096mm as an example. Its how my mind works. In the early 80's I worked in Bermuda which was "imperial" to accord with the USA. at that time there were still many countries who stayed with the imperial system. I also watch many KZbin videos of car mechanics and USA mechanics always refer to the metric measurement when working on European cars. As you both said you do use the system. I believe there is great reluctance from the USA manufacturing system to embrace the metric system, all down to cost. Just as you said Natasha.

[@Altrantis]

It's not that expensive to switch. The only thing you have to do is add double measurement labels on everything where you build things, so that people still know intuitively how much it is, from a cost PoV. From a practicality PoV, you measure every time anyways. You know it's supposed to be a specific number of notches, then you measure, and make sure it's the same number of notches. If construction was in metric, then engineering could be fully in metric.

[@gerardflynn7382]

​@@AltrantisConstruction and engineering in the US are already in the Metric system.

[@petervenkman69]

The thing is that the US don't actually use the Imperial System, some of the measurements are different (liquid measurements), this makes it much much worse. The Metric system is much easier to learn, and isn't too hard to re-learn. It isn't just that conversion within units is easier in metric, but it is how they relate to each other, distance, volume mass, temperature and energy easily convert. !0 cm cubed = 1 litre 1 cubed cm = 1ml 1 litre of water's* mass = 1kg 1 cubic cm (1ml) of water = 1g 0 Celsius is freezing point, 100 is boiling. It takes 100 calories to increase 1 gram (or 1 cubic cm) of water from 0 to 100 degrees Celsius. * More specifically if the water is at 3.98 degrees Celsius (at it's maximum density). This was the original definition, and is still quite useable for every day purposes, the precise definition is now by a universal constant (like all metric measurements are now).

[@robertmurray8763]

SAY a distance eg: a chain to Americans. They don't understand. Liquid measurement yes a different between U.S. Imperial and British Imperial are different for some fluid, weight and distance.

[@MarkmanOTW]

Metric was introduced while I was in Primary school (late 1960s/early 70s), so I was among the first tranche of kids that learnt metric weights and measures. I also observed the switch to decimal (metric currency), so by the time I was old enough to have and spend money, I was used to the decimal system. Given that our parents and grandparents talked in imperial measures - road signs, petrol (gasoline), bathroom weighing scales, thermometers remained in imperial too - the gradual change took place over the 1970s and 80s. So that's why many of us (born pre-1980s) use a mix - it's like being bi-lingual as I see it. Only miles on the roads, road signs, and car speedos measure distance in imperial. Pubs measure beer in pints and half pints. And milk is sold in pints (and used to be delivered to every house and business in glass 1 pint bottles by a milkman up to the 1980s). This I believe is due to the historical, cultural, social associations at the core our British identity where a 'pint of milk or beer' has so much more meaning than just a unit of measurement. We use 'a pint/couple of pints' in a generic way to describe milk and beer, as a loved linguistic descriptor for these 'life essentials'- so that's why we keep it.

[@bellshooter]

Don't forget that we had the cgs metric system before the SI system in use now, so I learned all 3!

[@tonyknox5252]

Born in 1971 and taught maths in metric but it was meaningless at the time so they taught imperial as well, as one teacher put it "this is what we're supposed to teach you but this is what you'll need when you walk out these gates". Now anything sold in metric means I have to convert it in my head to imperial so I can visualise length and width of things in my head. Should have just left it as it was and leave metric for science.

[@mallockarcher]

I always find it confusing that the same word is used for different measurements in American standard and imperial. A pint and a ton are different between the two systems.

[@steveallen3434]

@@tonyknox5252 I like to do measurements in metric until it comes to distance or weight and I think that is an age thing as my grandkids are starting to correct me.

[@tonyknox5252]

@@mallockarcher Britain changed the weights in the 1800's to standardise them adding the stone so now there are 112lbs in a cwt instead of a hundred and the ton of 20cwt is 2240lbs instead of the original 2000lbs, the pt became 20floz instead of 16floz etc but America had left British rule by then. The empire adopted the British weights so a gallon of gas in Canada was a lot bigger than the US so that had to be confusing.

[@claudiograssi1037]

To put in a very simple way: with the metric you multiply/devide by 10, 100, 1000, etc. Much, much, much more easier.

[@clivegilbertson6542]

G'day guys! I am an Australian in my 70's and while I grew up with the Imperial system (& pounds shillings & pence) I am totally familiar with the metric system. We had 2 phases of conversion...Firstly the currency in 1964-6 and in 1974 the units of measurement and we are so much better off by it...kids learning to do calculations in metric is hundreds of times easier than in my days at school...CHeers!

[@TheNatashaDebbieShow]

As Americans we are certainly not strangers to hearing about the metric system, ALL THE TIME! It's always, "Why does America still use the Imperial System?" "Are you ever going to switch to Metric?" "Why do American's Hate the metric system?" Are those even valid questions? Well let's find out together. Does the Metric System actually prove better than what is really known as the "British Imperial System?" Join us in this very decades long debate and let's see if the Imperial system really should be extinct. Thanks so much for watching! If you enjoy our content, please consider subscribing to our channel, it is the BEST way to support our channel and it's FREE! Also please click the Like button. Thank you for stopping by!

[@blindarchershaunhenderson3769]

We will ignore this guy's anti-british anti-american rhetoric and go straight to what you said about the cost of converting an entire country, there is a reason why we still have a mix of the two systems in the UK, it's because even will we officially swapped to the system in the 1970s it has never become fully assimilated into UK culture which is why we still have a mixture of inches and CM litres and gallons miles and kilometres, just take a look at motoring in the UK we measure distance in miles, as seen on road signs a mixture of both as seeing on car speedometers, we sell fuel in litres but measure its consumption in miles per gallon it's just a mess because it will never truly accepted the switch from one to the other it's not hard of our culture, and if a small country like the UK can't manage this swap within 50 years what chance has a country the size of the United States,

[@TheNatashaDebbieShow]

@blindarchershaunhenderson3769 exactly. Thank you for understanding our point. We as well were not fans of the narrator, as I'm sure you noticed. Some hard tongue biting during that one!

[@DavidCookeZ80]

Cooking with "metric" units is more repeatable for recipes that are senisitive to the ratios of ingredients such as bread and cakes compared to a USA (and older Canadian) version. But it isn't really down to the precision of the units themselves - it's more to do with that in a metric recipe you never really measure solid ingedients by volume (such as cups), only by mass - my cup of flour is going to have a different mass to your cup of flour just because of how well they are packed. UK recipies used weights for solids even with imperial units. I do have a set of cups, but they are labelled in factions of cups and mL - I don't use them for solids. The imperial units aren't really British; they existed long before (many are roman) and all across Europe - so every European country has switched to metric - they didn't start out that way. And it's not that hard, really. You just but both units on packaging so you have a whole number in imperial and a funny number in metric. Next shrinkflation happens and you end up with an odd number in imperial and a whole number in metric.

[@heronimousbrapson863]

If you wish to continue measuring ingredients by volume instead of by mass, you can still do so with metric units. There is no requirement to switch to mass based units.

[@0Clewi0]

@@heronimousbrapson863 no one sane would give a recipe with 200 ml of flour. For starters a cup of sifted flour is a cup of flour that you sifted or sifted flour measured in a cup? Maybe not the biggest concern if you are doing a roux, but confectionery requires as much precision as possible.

[@Scudmaster11]

Messurement by volume is better then messurement by weight

[@necromancer2367]

Another thing why Metric is better. The units for different properties are super easy to derive. Like for pressure, which is force/area, has the unit Pascal, which is Newton/metre². Newton is rate of change of momentum or mass * acceleration, which is kg•m/s². Substitute into Pascal it's kg/ms². 1 Pascal = 1kg/ms² = 1N/m². No need to multiply numbers, the factors are all 1. It's a lot harder in Imperial to do the same thing.

[@1127924]

Hi from Canada ladies - I am a child of the 50s - Canada started converting to metric in 1975 and it is not that hard to figure out and worth it in the long-term - however I still weigh myself in pounds and height in feet & inches but my grandkids completely use metric and have trouble with temp and speed when we visit the USA. Metric is more precise and simpler once you are used to it.

[@Ben_Kimber]

I’m a Canadian in my early 20’s. I also still measure my height in feet and inches and my weight in pounds, and the oven in my house is still in °F. However, I’m trying to slowly convert my brain to thinking in metric, so my height is in cm and my weight is in kg. I’m sure many people do this, but I don’t think of driving distance in units of distance at all, but rather by the time it takes to complete the trip.

[@dianabialaskahansen2972]

I think a change would not be too hard, you just have to do it over time and for a while use both measurements. So if you have a 40 mph street sign, the next time you upgrade it, it becomes 40 mph and below (65 kmh). On products have them include both numbers too, when they make new products. It is a process that will likely take 10+ years, but gradually people should start to understand it. As you already pointed out, you had been using metric already for some things without realizing it. While I live in Denmark and we are fully metric and have been my entire life, on a measurement tape you can see both metric and imperial units. Thermometers typically show both celsius and fahrenheit. In cook books it will say something like 3 cups of flour (360 gram).

[@5imp1]

Cannot stop watching your channel. You are both brilliant and we love you. Keep up the good work.

[@TheNatashaDebbieShow]

Thank you so much! ❤️

[@bencodykirk]

@@TheNatashaDebbieShow Me too, you're videos are great!

[@worldpeace1822]

Answer : yes please If one still has to ask why it is better though. You might want to rewatch the video. It’s better because it’s not as messy to use. While it’s basis is metric anyway. Imperial is just an additional layer of inconvenience for everyone else at this point of time. Besides, those still asking what metric is better at out of convenience not wanting to learn a few kinds of fundamental measurement and a few conversion factors that are normally all 1000 or 1/1000.

[@alanwatson7560]

We use miles on road signs in the UK, but the "official" maps like our Ordnance Survey maps have been metric for decades, both for height above sea level (contour lines) and distances.

[@bencodykirk]

So it's just stubbornness preventing the road signs going metric in the UK. I hope it changes there soon. I'm British; learned to drive in London. But now I live in Australia and love that metric is so much more widely used.

[@totallynotkhornesworshiper8479]

i'm so thankful my country using the rest of the world using units ... Metric units rule for ever

[@bok1080]

Metric is much easier to use in general life than Imperial units (I grew up with metric at school but imperial at home [Australia, at school '80s and '90s], and thus was 'bi-lingual') even my father who was a mechanical fitter, has (slowly) changed over to mainly metric. Being fluent in both systems led to much fun later in school life, as my year group was about the last to have 'bi-lingual' people, so it was easy for me and my best friend (who was also similarly fluent) to confuse any of the younger students by talking in 'old units' 🤣🤣🤣. In all seriousness it is easy to transition from one to the other, our house blocks stayed the same size after we transitioned, we just labeled them with the new size, and with food labeling, anything you have that comes from a 'foreign' market, or is sent to a 'foreign' market, will already have metric labeling, and will actually be either cost neutral to change, or for imported products actually be cheaper as they don't have to print US specific labels any more. And for cooking it is much easier to vary a recipe (bigger or smaller) with metric measurements as they are easier to divide/multiply.

[@thorbjrnhellehaven5766]

0:56 regarding maths being difficult, that's an argument for the metric system, because the maths with imperial units are more difficult. Yes of course being familiar with one system more challenging, but starting from scratch, the maths using metric is easier.

[@RustyDust101]

The problem, like I've said under each reaction to this video, is not the conversion from one system to another, it is the constant switching of mathematical bases of units. From 1/32 or 1/16th of an inch (so either base 32 or 16), to 12 (12 inches to a foot), to 3 feet to a yard, to 1720 yards for a mile. Just in the length measurement there are four base conversions. Weight isn't any better, fluid measurements even worse. Now use one of those measurement units and combine them with a second measurement type, like weight to volume. Each and every one of these measurements has an inbuilt rounding error. Each such rounding error is a source of compounding errors that quickly rack up to make the whole calculation inherently inaccurate. Not due to mathematical error, just because at some point you have to drop fractions, which then gets rounded to the next unit value calculable. All of this could be prevented by simply shifting decimal points in metric as ALL metric units use the same base, which is base 10. Base 10 also being the number base that nearly everyone except IT people or mathematicians count in. So we understand it inherently. In addition to that the units of measurement are all dependent on each other, whereas all values in the imperial are completely independent of each.

[@MaoZhu-j6q]

1720 yds in a mile. Not in the UK UK mile is 1760 yds

[@RustyDust101]

​@@MaoZhu-j6q I rest my case. Point demonstrated.

[@euromaestro]

Switching over is hard but it’s worth it. And it only has to be done once. Conversion costs money but it actually saves money.

[@joeking4206]

Cooking: what is a cup? What is a tablespoon? Etc. We really need to get this sorted out x

[@GH-oi2jf]

A lot of people cook in the United States using US units with no trouble at all. People often learn the basics of cooking from their mothers, but it isn’t hard to figure out.

[@richjdnz]

LOVE that top Natasha!

[@sarzl1980]

You guys always make me smile! I’m an English woman who lives in Sydney and honestly I don’t understand why people still use the imperial system… it makes no sense lol x

[@helenwood8482]

It makes perfect sense. Everyone can visualise a mile, but what the Hell is a kilometre?

[@TrashskillsRS]

@@helenwood8482 what

[@moschopspermian5382]

The Imperial system has a great advantage over metric if you are dealing in fractions. 1/3rd of a foot is readable on a rule. 1/3rd of a metre is an recurring number. This happens over and over again.

[@andrewwaller5913]

@@helenwood8482 1000m to be precise !

[@charlesunderwood6334]

@@helenwood8482 A km is the distance from where I live to the third closest pub. Easy to visualise. And I can't visualise a mile- I work in science and have been using metric exclusively for 35 years.

[@eskhaphey2873]

The thing is, the metric system is based upon Base 10, which is basic counting: numbers 0 to 9, where 10 is just a reset back to 0 with a new sequential number in front. Then when you get to 1 9 you reset back to the next 2 0, then 2 9 reset back to 3 0 etcetera. The imperial system was designed to make it easier to divided into quarters, so usually 12 (a BASE 10 value) so you can get 1/4s 1/3s and 1/2s easily. But always requires conversions, as is explained in the video.

[@peterlinsley4287]

In Australia the Metric system was introduced in 1975. I'm 57 I've been a Boilermaker and then a Draftsperson. I stll have to work out how tall someone is in feet and inches and when my daughter had a baby I had to work out his weight in lbs . Other than that it's metric it's so easy. A 1m3 box full of water hold 1000 litres (l) of water and weighs 1 ton (t) so in my shopping hag I have 5 l of milk so the bag weighs 5kg.

[@johnt8636]

@7:50 - That's not the incident his talking about. The Gimli Glider (coz in lande3d in Gimli, Manitoba) landed on a disused drag strip.

[@petereastwood1]

I have a theory that we retain the mile rather than the kilometer primarily to annoy the French.

[@robertmurray8763]

American Imperial is different from British Imperial for wieghts distances and fluids. Not all but some.

[@grenfellroad8394]

In the UK a lot of us still use both. Metric for small dimensions coz it’s far easier to measure millimetres that thousandths of an inch, but it’s easy to measure 3ft 6inches. We use miles and yards, or miles and chains on the railway, a throwback to the old methods. The new high speed lines use kilometres though so progress is slow. We mix both.

[@paulcharleton3208]

Yes indeed. I'm not sure how widely known it is however that in retaining the mile, the UK and USA are still obeying our much earlier European masters. The "mile" is.derived from the Latin word used by the Romans for 1000 and as per the modern French word "mille". It was 1000 Roman somethings (apologies - can't remember what) and gave us that distance. 1760 yards !!

[@colrhodes377]

@Paul Charleton that's something I didn't know! I shall retain this new knowledge because it may come up in a quiz

[@clayhead12000]

That’s a good reason.

[@steverpcb]

In the UK we have to buy petrol by the liter but use Miles Per Gallon. The world wide standard for altitude is Feet, yet tv programs use meaningless Meters :(

[@neilfleming2787]

one word...accuracy. But here I'm talking, mathematics, physics, chemistry...basically anywhere measurement is needed.

[@natashafletcher600]

If you and mathS don't get on, the metric system is your friend. When I went to school we only learned weights and measures using the metric system ( 10 milimetres = 1 centimetre, 100 centimetres = 1 metre 1000 metres = 1 kilometre) But when I left school the non academic parts of the UK ALL used imperial so I had to teach myself that. Eventually they outlawed imperial measurements on food drink and sales items. However, you still order and receive a pint in bars (20 ounces UK) babies are weighed in kg although they convert it for you. People are measured (height and weight) in metric but often require the conversion. I know I am 172 cm usually. Sometimes i am 5'7, sometimes am 5'8.

[@bedpansniper]

Also, remember that we mix imperial and metric. We use Celsius to describe cold weather and Fahrenheit for hot weather. " Its going to be -2 today, take your big coat" or " Its boiling out there. it's going to be in the 80s"

[@TheNatashaDebbieShow]

Never heard other countries use Fahrenheit before...

[@rogoth01themasterwizard11]

@@TheNatashaDebbieShow while rare, you will find some elderly people still using old imperial measurements, and some elderly people of a certain age talk fondly of the old currency system (here in the UK at least) back when we had *pounds/shillings/pence/crowns etc*, i would say my generation (30-35 age bracket) were the last to be taught anything that wasn't exclusively metric, while i was taught in metric at school, some of my teachers also used to use imperial sometimes when talking generally and not teaching actual lessons, so i have a frame of reference for what an inch is, and we still use certain imperial measurements for certain things but on the whole everyone under the age of 30 in the UK will only really know the metric system.

[@Shoomer1988]

@@TheNatashaDebbieShow And we still use pints for beer but litres for soft drinks - it's kinda crazy

[@andybaker2456]

I do exactly that, but thought it was just me! It's strange how the weather forecast will give temperatures in Celsius, but we instantly convert hot temperatures to Fahrenheit, but leave cold temperatures in Celsius!

[@_starfiend]

No! I don't know anyone who does that.

[@chrisengland5523]

Back in the 70's I went to a conference about computer chips. Intel gave a talk on their latest microprocessor, at the end of which somebody asked: "How big is this chip?" Answer: "About 6 pico-acres." The whole audience erupted into laughter and we never did find out the size of the thing in any units that anyone could work with. Pico-acres? Why not? We could also measure car journeys in kilo-inches, paper thickness in micro-miles etc. etc.

[@sueburn536]

As an Aussie, I lived through "the change" and there are still some things that I can conceptualise more easily in Imperial but metric just makes so much more sense. Think about what your life would be like if currency was still in pounds, shillings & pence (not to mention all the other denominations). 100 cents to a dollar makes sense, right? So does 1000 millimetres to a metre and 1000 metres to a kilometre, etc. It is just EASIER to think in Base 10 for everything!

It's easier because even Imperial/US Customary units are written in decimal. 200 feet? That "200" is of course in the decimal system. My go-to example is different: take a tank of a certain length, width, height. In feet, you get the volume in cubic feet. Now… how many gallons would you need to fill this? Compared in the SI, you get cubic meters (or cubic centimeters, but that's also just a "move the decimal point" conversion). How many liters is that? Well…

[@0Clewi0]

@ just a note that if you're going to do a mistake in IS unit conversion it will be certainly forgetting to square or cube your conversion.

[@margaretnicol3423]

Love your watch, Natasha!

[@andypandy9013]

The opening remarks by that obviously Irish guy reek of ATTITUDE! And a profound lack of historical knowledge about the Imperial system. 🤬

[@markjones127]

I used to work in worldwide shipping and used to really enjoy sending paperwork back to American companies and telling them we only accepted paperwork for shipments in metric, the angrier the reply we got the more entertaining we found it! 🤣

[@alexandermenzies7610]

Thanks for this info. Hi from Auckland New Zealand. Made me think of when we changed over. Needed to Google it, 14th December 1976. Didn't get it then, probably don't get it now. But just use it, as its really all I know now. 58 year old Maori Kiwi. LOVE your content.

[@feldegast]

for anyone who doesn't know about the metric system, the simplest 1st step is to use measuring tools that have the metric measurements and the US customary units so you can see what the other vlaues are so you can slowly get used to the other system...get a tapemeasure with both, get electric scales that can do both and then try it out.....

[@colinpiper6269]

I spent the majority of my working life in commercial aircraft maintenance, which is dominated by US manufacturers and, therefore, uses the imperial system. But in no other circumstances do I ever use anything but the metric system and haven't done since the 70s. It's the simplest system of measurement you could ever get. I remember when the UK went to decimal currency. We went to currency based on 10 from currency, for example, 240 pennies in a pound. 20 shillings in a pound, etc. My old mum was convinced the French were trying to get one over us. Great channel.

[@rklrkl64]

The UK is a bit of a mess when it comes to metrification. We use Celsius for temperature (0=freezing water, 100=boiling water, so more logical than Fahrenheit) and "mostly" litres for liquids, but "pints" are still commonly used to refer to milk and beer volumes. It all falls apart with UK distances/speeds/weights, which remain stubbornly imperial in most cases (inches/feet/yards/miles/miles per hour/ounces/pounds/stones [14 pounds for non-UK readers]). I suspect the cost of switching and the units confusion (does a road speed limit sign of 50 mean mph or km/h? I suspect you'd have to say 50 km/h on the sign for a long time...) are what has put the metrification progress on hold. We need to sort this out and go fully metric!

[@ericbatemanrodgers]

I was taught imperial at school and still use imperial now I'm 67

[@andrewstrongman305]

One of the best parts of using he metric system is that there are no fractions.

[@GH-oi2jf]

Wrong. Everything to the right of the decimal point (or comma, if you use that notation) is a fraction. Fractions don’t have to be expressed as a ratio of two numbers, even in US Customary units.

[@andrewstrongman305]

@@GH-oi2jf Lol, bullshit. The metric system is decimal, in the sense that all multiples and submultiples of the base units are factors of powers of ten of the unit. Fractions are expressed as decimal units, which eliminates any need to find a common denominator. Pi is an irrational number (never ending, but never repeating), While commonly used to represent Pi, 22/7 is only accurate to 0.04025% of Pi. A more accurate fraction used to approximate Pi is 355/113, which is accurate to 0.00000849%. Decimals can describe any fraction, it does not work the other way around.

[@Notric]

Great reaction. I know it would be hard but I believe it would be worth it for the future of the US. It helped Australia grow into a modern economy. There would have to be a time with both measurements on everything. We had that here when Australia changed. Most cars had gauges in both miles and km. There would be a cost for a while, although it only takes a bit of reprinting in most cases and packaging is always being redesigned. In the education space the resources are already available as the rest of the world is already on board. I grew up in the 70's and 80's when many people still used both. I really didn't notice any problem in the transition time, in fact I found the Metric so easy compared to the Imperial that I switched almost straight away for everything. In my first job I was an Electrical Fitter and it made the machining part of my job so much quicker to setup. Our groceries were also labelled with both Grams and Ounces. I don't really remember when the dual labelling stopped because I think it was gradually done over a few years. Still today some imported stuff has both on it. (Probably to cater for Americans) We still have scales in both, rulers and tape measures with both centimetres and inches and thermometers with Centigrade and Fahrenheit. The change is probably already going on. I don't think you could do it quickly as your states like to oppose federal control and will fight it. Love your work and I look forward to more videos.

[@suegermaine5730]

I am British born and bread. I was brought up on Imperial but when we went metric I accepted it. In my nursing career everything was metric and once again I accepted it. However I am nearly 70 and when measuring room sizes I am now converting back to imperial as I can see immediately what the room size looks like. Why am I doing this I don’t know but if someone tells a room is 20 feet by 16 feet I can immediately see the size but if someone tells me it’s 6 metres by 4.8 metres for some reason I cannot visualise the room size. Maybe it’s my age lol.

[@ziggarillo]

British bread is always tasty

[@suegermaine5730]

@@ziggarillo sorry that’s predicted text that changed that and I didn’t even notice. I do apologise if I offended your sensibilities?

[@Gerrygambone]

I have been educated in both and as an engineer Metric is by far the most superior system

[@glynnwright1699]

There is simply no comparison between the two systems for science and engineering, I agree. Nonetheless I still start off in imperial units and convert the number to kilograms when I buy items like cheeses.

[@Gerrygambone]

@@glynnwright1699 Let you into a secret I am always converting either metric to imperial or imperial to metric and I do it in my head ( yes I am a sad old fart ). Also us Brits use MPH not KPH we use MPG but we buy our fuel in Litres

[@glynnwright1699]

@@Gerrygambone I am an engineer and mathematician, but still do exactly the same. At school I was variously taught using Imperial, cgs, and SI units, but when it comes to buying anything I always start off estimating quantities in Imperial units.

[@lisawilliams9480]

Wow this has blown my mind lol . But incredibly interesting. Well done girls on another amazing video and a big thankyou to Natasha for all her time spent editing and getting this ready for us to watch xx

[@Gsoda35]

it's interesting to hear others views on different measurements and thanks for sharing your thoughts.

[@joannetyndall3625]

I think I'm quite typically British,as I use an outwardly confusing mix of both 🤔 xx

[@darkraft1020]

Yes, same. I think we all do here.

[@nigeldepledge3790]

To switch over from Imperial to metric doesn't have to happen overnight. Here in the UK, we still have some foodstuffs that have both lb and kg, or both pints and litres, on the label. There are some areas in which we simply haven't changed. Our road signs are still in miles; and our cars still read speed in mph (although they all also have km/h). We still talk about the diameter of a car wheel in inches, even though we'll also talk about the width of the tyre in mm. For miles and kilometres, though, sheer chance gives us a useful interchangeability. A furlong (220 yards, or 10 chains*) just happens to be within 1% of 200 metres. With eight furlongs to the mile, that gives you the approximate 1600 m in a mile (in fact, 1609 m is more accurate, but if you ignore the extra 9 m, you'll still be within 1%). Where the narrator is talking about Americans unwittingly using the metric system, he means that the inch is defined as 25.4 mm; the foot as 30.48 cm; the pound mass as 454 g; and so on. * A chain is 22 yards, or the space between the two wickets on a cricket pitch.

[@daviddouglas6610]

Hello ladies im english i was first taught the imperial system in school then when we joined the eu the metric system was introduced , i must say the metric system is the easyest to use . . .but i can flit from one to the other as it suits me

[@JorlinJollyfingers]

In europe we changed currency... there might not be something more disturbing than that. People kept conversing to their previous currency for quite a while... but that is gone now. People can adapt in 10 to 20 years. Oh and just try to get how many inches are in 4,3 miles without a calculator and compare that to a metric user finding out how many centimeters are in 4,3 kilometers. For a metric user this takes seconds...

[@mattymoowhite]

See also: USA billion = 1,000,000,000 ( short form ) whereas UK billion= 1,000,000,000,000. ( Long form )

[@mark_8719]

The narrator guy goes on about 'moving on' he's the one that can't move on it seems 🤣

[@michaelstamper5604]

When I was in primary school (grade school) they tried to teach us both the metric and imperial systems. All it achieved was to confuse the bejaysus out of us all. Even now, 50+ years later, I still hear people saying things like "go half a mile and turn left, then turn right after fifty yards...."

[@TheNatashaDebbieShow]

That sounds like a nightmare!!

[@michaelstamper5604]

@The Natasha & Debbie Show more like hilarious most of the time. But then I've kind of got used to it over the years lol

[@stevemichael8458]

You'll often hear 'half a mile down the road, turn left, then 200 metres on the right" too lol

[@stevemichael8458]

@@TheNatashaDebbieShow It sounds like a nightmare but really in practise it isn't. We just sort of do it naturally. I think partly because our measuring tapes have both units, our food packaging has both units - so we have been used to seeing both for decades. Metric still makes much more sense though!

[@kimlevi8552]

j

[@15uzu]

One of the important metric conversions which wasn't touched on in the video is how easy it is to convert from lineal units to volumetric units in the metric system - e.g you can convert from metres to litres. How? Imagine you have a cube which is 1cm x 1cm x 1cm - that's 1cubic centimetre or 1cc. If you have 1000cc's of something you have 1 litre (L), which by the advice in the video is equal to 1000 Millilitres (ml) when you shift the decimal 3x places to convert. So, 1cc = 1ml - simples!

[@simonwatkins3236]

this if you have a 1m* 1m*1m tank you know how many liters it holds.

[@Lianne108]

We have a weird mix of metric and imperial here in England. We still use miles. We measure our height in feet and inches and our weight in lbs (although we separate the pounds into stones- 10 stone is 140 Lbs) but our weather forecasters now use Celsius (was in Fahrenheit when I was a kid) and fuel used to be sold by the gallon, but is now sold in litres. After leaving the EU, shops here can now sell in pounds and ounces again, but they have to show the metric weights too. All very confusing.

[@kevvywevvywoo]

I still ask the butcher for meat in pounds because a pound of diced chicken or mince is perfect for a meal for 2 and alot easier to remember than the metric

[@strasbourgerelsass1467]

@@kevvywevvywoo What is of course complete nonsense. What is hard to remember on a half kilogram? 🤦🏻 Or a half chicken (we dont even use weight in some cases).

[@bencodykirk]

Stupid Brexit.

[@Goatcha_M]

They key to switching over is to Officially Switch over, but display signs in both units for a while, and only teach metric in schools. Australia signed up to metric in 1947, actually switched between 1970 and 88, and our rulers to this day still have inches on one side and metric on the other. But its really just a matter of immersion. Metric really is so much simpler. 1 ml of water weighs 1 gram which takes up 1 cm cubed. Easy conversion between three mediums 1:1. As opposed to Imperial length with inches, feet, yards, chains, miles. Not even all Base 12.

[@tonystorcke]

"If you are speaking to someone who lives outside the USA, do the right thing and speak to them in metric."

[@Altrantis]

As someone who has a lot of american online friends, we typically end up talking in imperial. Except when it comes to temperature, I refuse to learn Fahrenheit.

[@bobprice9541]

Some things can be switched to metric with a low cost. For example, the National Weather Service could give temperatures in Celsius at the flip of a switch. Gas pumps can be updated to liters with a simple program change. Food labels can be changed the same way ghaphics are changed. I think all engineering and science need to be all metric. That would eliminate confusion of units.

[@fluffybadger9832]

It's strange that the US has always used a decimal system for money but not for anything else. In the UK we only switched to decimal currency in 1970. Before that it was 12 pennies to a shilling, 20 shillings to a pound. So 240 pennies to a pound! Other measurements were switched to the international system of units SI. It makes it a lot easier to calculate things in science & technology

[@YourConscience-k8g]

The US has got this weird hybrid decimal thing they do with old fashioned measures. Everything is sold by decimal galloons and feet and inches but unless you're like an engineer or something, you never see any antique tool of measure in tenths. It's literally bizarre.

[@baslifico]

The cousin-marrying comment was a reference to our royal family.

[@daniellastuart3145]

We in the UK use both

[@aphextwin5712]

Relabelling things for most products wouldn’t be the biggest issue, as packaging and labels are consumables. Only in some areas like road signs, this would require replacements. But even there, you’d start with adding both numbers on the signs (which would cost a little bit as you would need to increase the size of the sign a bit). The larger practical issue is replacing standardised items. Take screws for example, you wouldn’t replace a 1/4” bolt with a 6.35 mm one. You’d rather choose a 6 mm one. But that means you’d need to replace drill bits and so on. However, in many cases the U.S. is already using a mixture of metric and imperial items, eg, in screws, just think of all imported cars that have metric components. The biggest issue is for people to get used to the new units. That takes time, maybe even a full generation, but then again, this has happened on a smaller scale in some areas (as your example of grams and milligrams showed). And that points to the ultimate reason why the U.S. hasn’t switched (yet), the general population doesn’t want to make the effort and that makes it politically infeasible; in particular in the U.S. where most people really don’t like the government telling them to do something and where the notion that the big, powerful United States conforming to the rest of the World isn’t exactly popular.

[@ajayjackson7727]

wow guys, this was an interesting video 👍the thing is, i'm in Scotland and i was an 80s kid and the imperial system was still used back then. I think the metric system was already in the UK but people still used ounces, pounds, pints and inches etc because it was what they were used to. I remember going into the sweet shop and asking for a quarter (4 oz) of sweets as a kid and there was still an oz dial on the scale. I worked in a deli in the mid 1990s and when people were asking for cold meat they would still ask for say 4 oz , half a pound etc of meat instead of asking for it in grams, very few people asked for products in metric. Even today, older people, say people age 60+, will still use oz and pounds in deli's and fruit shops etc because again it;s just what they've been used to and they know how much of a product they get for these weights. When i think of 300g it's difficult for me to judge how much of a product i will get for that weight, but when i think of 1lb in weight i know how much i will get for that weight. A lot of people definitely still use both systems here and especially in market stalls. Same with when i think about a pint of milk, i know roughly how much liquid that is whereas if i think of 500 ml it's more complicated. The thing i really find confusing is when Americans measure their liquids in oz, because here we use pints, so to convert that in my head i would find difficult. Great video guys 👍👍

[@josephturner7569]

I still convert to £SD. Frinstence 80p is 16 bob.

[@ajayjackson7727]

@@josephturner7569 oh yeah👍 some of my aunts still use bob and shilling even now, i like the word shilling. I miss the half pences we used to have as well.

[@GSD-hd1yh]

Agree with all of this, but in the UK an imperial pint is 20 fl oz and in the US it is only 16.65 fl oz.

[@elitechungdokwan4321]

I still refer to a couple of bob for 2 shillings (10p) and ten bob (50p) etc

[@GSD-hd1yh]

Metric or Imperial? Al Murray said it best, ask the women which they prefer - 10 cm or 12in?

[@olorin1.414]

Here in the UK petrol/diesel is measured in litres but fuel consumption is measured in miles per gallon. Wheel size is measured in inches but the tyre tread is measured in millimetres. Milk is sold in litres, beer in a pub is sold in pints but beer in cans is sold in millilitres. As a welder at work, I use the metric system but when measuring someone's height or weight we use the imperial system. As a Brit, this seems normal but I understand foreigners thinking "that's a bit weird." 🇬🇧

[@heronimousbrapson863]

If you're mathematically challenged, the metric system is much more user friendly.

[@Roel_Scoot]

In the Netherlands the metric system was introduced in 1816. The older units were redefined to make the transition less difficult but the names were until today used by the people: ons = 100g; pond = 500g; pint(je) = 250ml, mud=1000l; Celsius is now used by everyone in the Netherlands, but the generation before me (I am 76 y old) stil used Fahrenheit in 1950. About Fahrenheit and Celsius: by my own professional experience: it is much easier to calibrate a thermometer for Celcius than for Fahrenheit: melting ice =0 and boiling water = 100. If you want it very precise you boil the water and use deionised water, the same with the ice, and take the air pressure for corrections (special tables available).

[@dirtbikerman1000]

I work in inchimeters... For example it's 2 ft and 3cm 😄

[@TheNatashaDebbieShow]

😂😂

[@positivelyacademical1519]

I think he missed the main flaw with imperial units - that there’s never been one unified system. A British Imperial inch happens to be the same as a US Standard inch, but the French inch was a different length. The British Imperial pint is 20 British Imperial fluid ounces, of 568ml; the US Standard pint is 16 US Standard fluid ounces, or 473ml. Yes, when there’s now relatively few countries using imperial it means there’s fewer problem; but that’s only the case because most countries switched to metric.

[@stephenmcdonald7908]

Hi ladies. I must admit I still use the imperial system for distance and weights. I understand metric but l can't visualise it. Iput it down to my age (70).Keep up the good work love from Birmingham UK😎

[@jamielong8976]

This is interesting because I’m the opposite - I can visualise much easier in metric rather than imperial. Again, that’s probably down to my age (32).

[@onigvd77]

Nice cheeky ending :)

[@winchy162]

No that's why we in the UK use both some things are better in metric some are better in imperial

[@CubeCyclone]

70s child here... I basically had to learn both systems and the Uk started to run both systems at same time. It's interesting that we pick and choose what we want to appear in which denomination. Speed limits are still in miles. Fuel stations changed to litres many years after the introduction of Metric system probably to disguise the fact that a hike of 2p per litre is more expensive than 2p per gallon (9p per litre) I still measure in MPGs and speed in MPH and I use both imperial and metric systems depending on whats more useful to me at the time. The imperial system worked in it's day when things were much simpler. Now here's my beef.... In cooking, why do the US measure dry weights in cup sizes which is more suited for fluids??

[@zak3744]

I'm a 40 year old UK native, and I'm equally happy cooking in either metric or imperial. But if given the choice I naturally tend to think of weights of ingredients in ounces, and fluid volumes in ml. No-one said it had to be consistent! 😆

[@ChristopherStendeck]

Same, I'm a 43 year old Brit and I am equally happy with both. I do weird things like measure my weight in imperial, but what I lift in the gym in metric (because all my weights are in kilos) 😅

[@Jonayofsweden]

That's kind of what they said though, with the inconsistencies being the reason for a lot of cross-national engineering disasters. Obviously that's not something you'll likely run in to while cooking oatmeal ^^

[@mallockarcher]

Oddly I'm 43 as well but I only use Imperial for my height and weight. Also because the signs are in Miles I use Miles for travel. I need to use imperial when talking to my dad but other than that I default to metric for all other purposes. It would make sense I guess for us to switch over to metric for road signs but it would be a hell of an expensive and complicated process so I don't see it happening and I certainly think at least half the population would have a really big issue with it.

[@scottirvine121]

@@ChristopherStendeck yep you're spot on, we are a mess

[@JamieSMB]

I feel like to think about 1 ounce as 30g and a lot of items like Oatmeal and cereal, 30g is 100kcals (approx) so I think of 1 ounce as 1 serving for quite a few items.

[@chippyjohn1]

So many reacts videos regarding the "is metric actually better". It's as though the US doesn't know of the metric system, yet they are all over the internet, the biggest database of knowledge, strange people.

[@Chris-cp7ys]

Great to see you both as always. Interesting video, the UK started to go metric in the mid 60s and when I started school in the early 70s we were taught metric, although seem to remember they taught us imperial in only a couple of classes so we understood. We obviously use miles and a mile is 1.6 km but not much else imperial really. Although I’m happy measuring and weighing in both I tend to use metric most of the time. Expect we will one day change to KM but it’s the cost of doing that. Either system is fine ❤

[@CYberCatT109]

A mile is 1.6 km, not the other way around. Easy mistake to make ;)

[@Chris-cp7ys]

@@CYberCatT109 yes it sure is! Mistake corrected

[@Seele2015au]

Natasha and Debbie, for a very long time, Hong Kong used even more measuring systems. In addition to Metric and Imperial, everyday shopping, eg for food, used the old Chinese system: weights are in catties and taels, where 16 taels is one cattie, and roughly 12 taels is a pound. For fabrics etc length was measured in the Chinese foot where a foot is ten inches and slightly longer than an imperial foot. Precious metals used another scale for weight. I suppose the Americans have it easy!

[@kimwade459]

Hi girls…as someone born and bred in the uk, my early school years worked in imperial measurements and it wasn’t until I started secondary school (11 year old) that they then started teaching us metric 😮 needless to say, I was confused then and still am lol 😂 I only realise the importance of such things like when I was building a shed in my back yard, ordering the materials in imperial 😂 and yes, you guessed it, I messed up and was short, so then when I came to order supplies for another project, I ordered in metric 😊 and stilled messed up 🤷‍♀️ I placed the order for some membrane for my garden, when it arrived, I had enough to cover a football pitch 😅 and no, I only have a medium size garden lol, so I give up…cooking wise, I’m like Debbie’s and cook by eye adding a bit of this and a bit of that along the way, always turns out ok, so maybe I should stick to cooking not building 😂😂 love you guys, btw, our road signs haven’t changed, they’re still in miles lol x

[@karenblackadder1183]

Cooking is an art, baking is a science. I remember baking with the old balancing scales. You placed an 8oz weight on oneside of the scale and added flour to the pan on the other side until they were absolutely level Happy days.

[@petersymonds4975]

Hello Natasha & Debbie. I’m a 50’s baby. I was brought up in a 100 % world of Imperial measurements. Dad was a greengrocer and fruiterer so I of coarse started helping out in the business from the age of 12. nothing had changed. Not only were measurements Imperial so was our cash! We had the basic unit of a £, still remains, but it had 12 pennies to a shilling, then 20 shilling, or 240 pennies, to the £. Now bring in say apples, at 1 shilling and 5 pence per pound (1/5) and the old currency and we hadn’t invented the pocket calculator yet you have a problem, 1 penny out either way and reputation goes down the drain. When we went decimal currency in 1971 it made things a little easier. Now the only remaining difficulty was the Imperial measurements. I became a telecom technician apprentice just before the metric system was fully in use. It was a mess. I attended Tech College once a week and I started in Imperial, then as time progressed it became Imperial, so maths became easier. Just multiply by ten, or shift the decimal point. It was that easy. I later became a planner and the first mistake I made was in ordering a length of cable. I used the floor plan of the exchange floor built in 1945 and measured 1000 yards. Completed the estimate of hours, costs etc. and submitted it to the control & stores. It came back, luckily, if they had issued it with 1000 meters of cable it would have been much to long and would have bust the time & cost target for the job. The transition period throws up problems and we should have gone 100% metric but it was felt that the “Woman in the Street” couldn’t buy milk by the litre, it had to come in pints! For the men it was felt that if their beer came in Litres and not pints then there’d be wholesale drunkenness! It remains that other than beer and milk that everything is metric. It is difficult to get your head around the concepts but it is a better method.

[@michelletrudgill4573]

I prefer imperial, I'm a pound and ounces, feet and inches, girl. I'm still confused, I can imagine an inch and a foot. I convert everything to Lbs and ounces when cooking so have to get my good old Dahlia Smith cook book out. Xx

[@strasbourgerelsass1467]

Dont worry, the scientists, the army, the NASA, the pharmy industry, etc. in the US work with metric already. They dont use two systems since a long time.

[@peterericakaiser1717]

The metric system is 10 times better and easier!🙂

[@mlnicholson77]

I went to school in the UK in the 80s and 90s and was only taught the metric system, my children also have only been taught the metric system. However, we run a 10K race but a marathon is still 26.2 miles and not 42.1 kilometres , we drive in miles and measure the speed in MPH. Babies are measured in grams, not kilos, but birth weights are announced in pounds and ounces. At the doctors and hospitals we are measured in centimetres, but we state our height in feet and inches when discussing it. We weigh food in grams or Kg, but still say I'd like 5lb of potatoes at the market.

[@alangauld6079]

The marathon is based on the traditional measured distance from Marathon to Athens so doesn't depend o the unit of measure. But professional athletes still run the imperial races - 3 miles, 6 miles etc. It's only the "amateur" athletes that run metric races. That's why professional and amateur world records so rarely conflict and it is hard to compare athletes from both worlds!

[@gerardmcnaughten7361]

Hello. Great & imformative video, however the comment the voice narrating the video was very rude when he made the comment about my countries mental abilities was just rude. Great video though. Jane in New Zealand 🇬🇧🇳🇿

[@TheNatashaDebbieShow]

We thought he was quite a jerk as well.

[@keelbyman]

I was thinking the same thing!

[@Markus117d]

@@TheNatashaDebbieShow 💖

[@Dreyno]

Being Irish, I grew up with a mix. Still use miles occasionally when talking colloquially andfeet sometimes when working on distances smaller than a metre. And pints when referring to beer. At this stage that’s about it. But I wouldn’t and never have used imperial for making/building something. Metric is just better. It’s simpler and more precise. No silly fractions (3/8 or 7/16) and random conversions (16oz in a pound, 14lb in a stone etc.). It’s easier for cooking etc. as well.

[@jameshumphreys9715]

We still use imperial in the UK, we use Pints for Milk, Miles for travelling driving and miles per hours.

[@ajayjackson7727]

oh yeah that's right, miles instead of kilometers, i still can't work out the length of a km because been so used to miles.

[@lolsaXx]

But go to the doctor and they will weigh you in kg and measure your height in cm. Also an American print is a different size than a British one.

[@B-A-L]

@@lolsaXx But most people still tell you their height in feet and inches and their weight in stones and pounds.

@@ajayjackson7727 I still can't work out the "length of a km" -because- even though I grew up fully metric, with Germany having gone metric on January 1st, 1872, almost 100 years before I was born. But distances… distances is something maps are for.

[@Goatcha_M]

Roundabouts aren't complicated, just circle to the right and give way to the left. And indicate as you would for a normal + intersection, or if its more than 4 exits, then switch to left blinker as you pass the last exit before yours.

[@AlbandAquino]

The thing I always says about "changing" your unit of measurement, if YOU are unable or unwilling to do it, have it taught to your children. At least they will be better in the world. My wife is American, and it took her 2 year basically to get used to it living in my country. And I can attest that yes, I'm banging my head regularly when I'm forced to work with both.

[@davidhuett3579]

One very obvious advantage of the metric system is remembering water boiling and freezing points. Water boils (at sea level) at 100 degrees Celcius or 212 degrees Fahrenheit It freezes at 0 degrees C or 32 degrees F ........ which is easier to remember? Honestly, if you're an American, how many of you can remember these points off the top of your head. My guess would be that many from the 'older' generation may have a better chance, but when it comes to the younger generation, very few would remember. What's hard to remember about 0 and 100?

[@markj66]

In The UK we use imperial A LOT. Every car has the speedo in mph, all speed limits are in mph, all road signs are miles and yards, we buy quarter pounders, and milk and beer in pints, we measure our height in feet and inches, our weight in pounds (and stones - 14 pounds) etc etc. We are not a completely metric country.

[@royw-g3120]

This is true but not for any UK engineer or scientist.

[@stevesstuff1450]

Mark: I agree, too! I dread the day when eventually all our roadsigns and speed measurements get converted to Km/Kmh, and you can no longer buy just a simple 'pint' in a pub..! However, I do think that for temperature, then 'celsius' makes a lot more sense; 0 (zero) degrees is perfect for freezing point (instead of 32 degrees F), and 100 degrees makes more sense for boiling point, rather than 212 degrees F...! I do find millimetres more convenient fine measurements, instead of fractions of an inch (5/16ths of an inch? Really?)! 👍

[@darkraft1020]

@@stevesstuff1450 Agreed. I use kilograms when weighing myself, as i find it easier to measure change. Pounds vary too much, as they are too fine a measurement, where as stones are too large to see daily change, so kilograms seem just right. For distance, milometer and centromere are much finer tools. But for a walk - i prefer to measure in a larger scale of miles. I am happy with this mix of measurements, but then I am not an engineer.

[@andyt8216]

@@darkraft1020me too. I find a fair few men (!), myself included weigh ourselves in kg. I really can’t be doing with stones 🪨

[@johnforrest695]

The "we buy...milk and beer in pints" is not quite so straightforward. Milk is variously sold in 1 or 2 litres and 1 2 or 4 pints - seems to depend on the shop. Beer will be in imperial for draught but any can or bottle will be in metric. We should properly changed 40 years ago and handled the short term problems then. Having both systems around is just confusing.

[@christopherseal2341]

Canada was "fully" converted by the mid 80's as one of the last things to go was 3qt bag of milk became 4L. However, fruits and vegtables are still advertised in lbs, but sold in kg. We cook in farenheit. Weight ourselves in lbs. Measure ourselves in ft/in. Lots are advertised in feet or acres. Rooms are measured in square feet. Business space is rented in square feet, or cubit feet. I have never heard anyone give there weight or height in metric. Some still take their temperature in F. Distance is ussually given in time, not miles or km. Place X is an hour away, or its about 2 hours drive to Toronto from here.

[@welshed]

The narrator irritated the hell out of me.

[@ShuffleUpandDeal32]

In Canada we learn both metric and imperial, especially in things like carpentry. Why you might ask? Well most jobs we just use feet and inches as lumber comes in....you guessed it imperial sizes. BUT government work actually comes in metric measurements generally, so thus we need to know both.

[@DruncanUK]

The USA is already metric! In 1975 US President Gerald Ford signed the Metric Conversion Act 1975 into law. It declared the metric system as the preferred system for USA...but said that "all conversion was completely voluntary". What a waste of time! Lol

[@Leon-bc8hm]

Yes they should 99% is using it because it is more logical and better.

[@i00Productions]

The cost of replacing speed signs is usually not a thing.. most countries that are "metric" still use miles, when it comes to travel distance & speed, specifically for this reason.

[@chrism7969]

I was a child during the era of almost entirely imperial measurements in the UK. When I was at school we were taught the metric system because we were going to change over. It was all pretty smooth. I don't recall any major problems. There were a few things we didn't change over. One was miles to kilometres,. Which is pretty sensible given that you don't want to confuse people about speed limits. The other was pints in pubs, plus a few other minor things. Apart from that everything changed. Even the metering equipment in pubs is in meric. It measures 568.261 millilitres which is 1 pint. Honestly it was really quite a smooth process with very few problems. Most objections were motivated by fear of change and a kind of perverse patriotism that fears anything foreign. It's not British so it's bad was the sentiment of some people. If you want to know why metric is better try cutting a piece of wood that's 3ft 9 1/2 inches long into 4. You will need to convert that into inches and then divide by 4 and convert anything after the decimal point into a fraction to use an imperial tape measure. The equivalent of that in metric is 1.156 m. To cut that length into 4 equal puces you divide by 4. Result 0.289 m = 28.9 cm 28 cm 9mm which I can read directly off a metric tape measure. To be honest you don't have to do anything but divide by 4 because it's a visually obvious that 0.289 m is 28 cm 9 mm on a metric tape measure. The metric system is just easier because it's decimal and our entire numbering system is based on decimals and we're taught to use decimals from childhood. If an American can add, subtract, divide and multiply in decimal they can do metric. As somebody who was taught both systems metric is genuinely easier.

[@nigel_davey]

The cousin marrying thing is referring to the British royal families of the past. The majority of the monarchy throughout all of Europe were VERY closely related as they inter-married to keep it in the family.....and yes sometimes they were first cousins. P.S The foot measurement came from the length of someones actual foot in Roman times.

[@johnleonard9090]

And the inch was the width of a man’s thumb, normally whoever was on the throne at the time was the ‘official’ measurement until the 14th century when they went over to using 3 barley corns placed end to end for the inch.

[@daytrippera]

Queen Victoria and Prince Albert were cousins, hell Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip were third cousins. They are all inbred. Just look for the family tree.