American Forumers - Metric or Imperial?

[Otis Da HousKat]

I prefer Imperial for commonplace measurements under most circumstances, but I prefer metric for scientific purposes as well as more precise measurements, since I'd rather just measure in millimeters rather than think about and say that such and such is 1/16"

This is another sticking point for me why imperial sucks:

Oh 3/4 is too small let me get the next size bigger OK let's see here 3/4" is 6/8" which is 12/16" so I want 13/16".

Compared to oh the 15 mm socket is too small so I'll use 16 mm.

[Ad Bot]

[HellHound]

Fractions boggle my mind enough already. Going from confusing inch fractions to even more confusing decimal without a calculator? No thanks!

[sir dooble]

I like Imperial for a few trivial things.
Measuring height of people in feet/inches is easier for me, as is weight in stones and pounds (I don't get on with the American way of describing weight in just pounds though, like someone is 160 pounds, rather than 11 stone, 6 pounds).

For pretty much all other situations however, I would prefer Metric because it's easy to convert.


My biggest issue with working in Imperial and Metric together, is that I can't visualise a mile very easily.
Whereas I can visualise a kilometre, because I know how long a metre is.
But unfortunately, distances between towns and speeds are given in miles/mph. And I am useless at converting between kilometres and miles.

[Harm94]

Metric for soda bottles and bullets, imperial for everything else.

[Epicduke]

metric for vidya games that use it and science courses
imperial for everything else

[Swat 3]

Imperial is good for the common man - metric is (literally) already for science. Imperial is simpler for cooking (you just gotta learn the conversions). Height and weight is good in inches/feet and pounds. Metric is also good for long distances, because it IS easier to downgrade/upgrade units.

I like Imperial for a few trivial things.
Measuring height of people in feet/inches is easier for me, as is weight in stones and pounds (I don't get on with the American way of describing weight in just pounds though, like someone is 160 pounds, rather than 11 stone, 6 pounds).

For pretty much all other situations however, I would prefer Metric because it's easy to convert.


My biggest issue with working in Imperial and Metric together, is that I can't visualise a mile very easily.
Whereas I can visualise a kilometre, because I know how long a metre is.
But unfortunately, distances between towns and speeds are given in miles/mph. And I am useless at converting between kilometres and miles.

I cannot for the life of me visualize a kilometer, only a mile. :)

[fireking]

Metric for soda bottles and bullets, imperial for everything else.

that's an oddly specific set of things

[XR-7]

that's an oddly specific set of things

Not really. Soda bottles are generally referred to as "a 2-liter" (or other minority measurements). Ammunition is generally referred to in millimeters.

[Frequency]

i love metric units

i just wish the US would adopt it and move on

[Mr Queeba]

Customary
:)

[Ragequit]

freedom

[Niff]

I was too concerned on which one to use that I can't easily estimate in either

Metric is better tho since I use that in my chemistry and physics class

[shamester]

metric is base ten
imperial is base whatevertheforget
i'd go with metric

[Tudoreleu]

not an american, but for me, metric is for actually measuring things, and imperial is for really rough measurements

"miles away" sounds better than "kilometers away" when you really don't know how far something is
"a few feet of rope" sounds better than "like one or two meters of rope" etc

[RTBARCHIVE]

Metric