Why is the U.S. still not using the metric system?
- Thread starter Disgustipated
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Archbob
Ancient CFC Guardian
Because we're different which makes us #1
Mango Elephant
Deity
I like customary units better because (imo) Metic units sound dumb. A liter, mililiter, a gram, those sound boring. A pint, a quart, now that sounds classy!
warpus
Sommerswerd asked me to change this
How many quarts in a pint?
BasketCase
Username sez it all
Why?? What's so important about which numbers you put on a damn measuring stick? Me, I've never been good at caving in to peer pressure; when the other kids on the playground told me I was wearing uncool shorts, I would reply with words I cannot use in this forum. And sometimes physical violence (I'm the reason crotch-punching was banned at my middle school campus).
That's what we've got these for:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:M1A1_Abrams_Tank_in_Camp_Fallujah.JPEG
That right there is America's patented 100% cage-free forwardness reminder.
Two pints to a quart, four quarts to a gallon. Of course, that doesn't help with the bizarre fluid ounces (20 to a pint) or other weird Imperial measurements.
NickyJ
Retired Narrator
I think the point that Warpus is making is that the Imperial system is completely unintuitive. Anyone with basic education can tell you how many millilitres there are in a litre, but even a hardened user of the Imperial system would have to think extensively to tell you how many ounces there are in a ton.
Formaldehyde
Both Fair And Balanced
Apparently that is not true. It seems that many Americans are quite uncomfortable with base 10 and all those goofy Latin prefixes.
Link to video.
Link to video.
Quackers
The Frog
Imperial > Metric.
Imperial = naturally created by Englishmen over generations.
Metric = evil technocrats intellegensia imposing there values from above.
Imperial = naturally created by Englishmen over generations.
Metric = evil technocrats intellegensia imposing there values from above.
Mr. Dictator
A Chain-Smoking Fox
So what you're saying is you let your peers influence your actions...
Rashiminos
Fool Prophet
Um, no. 1/2 quart in a pint.
-32000 ounces in a ton
The United States wastes enough energy as it is. Do you really want the US to waste more energy switching over to different flavor... oh wait, I see.
North King
blech
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I know! When those stupid adults tried to tell me reading was a more efficient mode of communication, I punched them in the face, too! Stupid peer pressure!1
1This is not to say that I believe the advantage of a writing system is analogous to the advantage of the metric system, merely that both have advantages and comparing it to "wearing different clothing" and saying "let's not give in to peer pressure" is a really bad reason for not switching.
warpus
Sommerswerd asked me to change this
Exactly, it's all powers of 10.
I was doing some home reno stuff a couple years ago and measured everything in feet (like.. 2.1 feet, 0.4 feet, etc.) I go into the store and..
everything is in inches (27 3/4, 12 1/4, etc.). Now, this might not seem like that annoying to you, but I look at each measurement that I had written down (there were maybe 10-15 of them total) and.. 0.4 feet. how many inches is that? And there's 10-15 things I gotta convert? And I don't even have a pencil with me?
If this happened in metric, I'd just have to move the decimal place over and that's it, no annoying conversion necessary.
Ajidica
High Quality Person
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So wait, Englishment aren't evil technocratic intellegenisia imposing their values from above?
Good sir, I seem to recall a war in which we beat you over your little ideological imposition.
Plus, we gained an empire while you lost one. So that means American measurement system is better. So, Imperial is better then Metric because of USA #1!!!
warpus
Sommerswerd asked me to change this
So you know, even if the U.S. did officially convert, most of you would still be using inches, furlongs, and whatever else you use right now.
Here in Canada we're "metric", but feet and inches are still everywhere. It's a mix of both systems, really.. quite annoying at times
Here in Canada we're "metric", but feet and inches are still everywhere. It's a mix of both systems, really.. quite annoying at times
aelf
Ashen One
Crap > planes.
Crap = naturally created by Englishmen over generations.
Planes = evil technocrats intelligentsia imposing their machines from above.
NickyJ
Retired Narrator
You don't have a cellphone or whatever that can calculate that?! You deserve that trouble just for how "horribly backwards" you are!
(Don't shoot! Don't shoot! It's a joke! I had to use something from the OP.)
Quackers
The Frog
Just because you know I'm right doesn't mean you can be rude 
Ajidica
High Quality Person
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A far better example for the superiority of Imperial over Metric is that the Imperial using Americans got an empire while the brits lost their empire when they switched to Metric.Just because you know I'm right doesn't mean you can be rude
However, being a patriotic englishman, I'm not sure if you can bring yourself to use that argument.
