RE: Measurements in the UK

[Kim Roper <kim -dot- roper -at- vitana -dot- com>]

Chris Gooch summarized the measurement units used in Britain.  Here are the
same things for Canada, listed under Chris's notes:

> 
> Here's a quick guide for foreigners to our quirky ways:
> 
> *	road distances, speeds: everyone uses miles

kilometres (km) here

> *	beer in pubs: pints only

If not sold by the bottle, then usually in pints but sometimes ounces
(pitchers are typically specified in ounces)

> *	soft drinks: litres or ml

Same here.

> *	petrol: has been priced in litres for 15 yrs or so,

Same here.

> 	but this doesn't stop people quoting
> 	miles per gallon on car adverts

Haven't seen this much lately.  With the current popularity of vans and
SUVs, people don't seem to view fuel consumption as much of a selling point
anymore.

> *	milk: pints (but the label has to say how many ml that is)

Litres/mL

> *	fruit, veg, meat, cheese, etc.: supermarkets now
> 	pack in kg or g, so you get 125g of cheese rather
> 	than 1/4 pound. But if you ask for a 1/4 pound at a
> 	deli you'll get 120 odd g (ie. a 1/4 pound). And if
> 	you ask for 100g of bananas you'll get 3 bananas :-)

Pretty much the same here.

> *	temperatures: centigrade for most people, but some
> 	people still use fahrenheit. I have to mentally convert
> 	f into c myself (I'm 33)....

We use Celcius (centigrade).  Perhaps some of the 40+ set are still more
comfortable with Fahrenheit.

> *	builders, plumbers, etc. All tools are metric, so they
> 	do measure in metric _usually_. Pipes and fittings are all
> 	metric and so on.

I don't have much breadth of experience, but from what I see, we're all over
the map on this one.

> *	weight (of people): for some reason people say "stone" 
> in general
> 	conversation. We do not understand when americans
> 	say someone weighs 150 pounds. If you say 75 kg
> 	then we'd have an idea how much that was in relation
> 	to bags of sugar, but not whether it was more or less
> 	than 12 stone.

We do not use "stone".  Typically, we use pounds, but some of the younger
set are more accustomed to kilograms.

> *	height (of people). This is a good one. I'm 5 foot 11, but
> 	my 7 yr old son is 125cm ('cos that's how kids clothes
> 	are sold now).

Yeah, that's what I was getting at in the previous entry :>  It's like that
here.  I'm 5'2"; my 8 yr old son is 132 cm.

> 
> Of course, if you are speaking to engineers or scientists, metric
> (actually SI) should _always_ be used.

Erk.  Like I said, I think we're all over the map.  I'm accustomed to
metric--as are my pure-science friends--but engineers tend to be pragmatic
on this one.  We have to be; our neighbours to the south ship us stuff in
imperial :>   I buy standard blank labels as measured in inches.  I order
custom labels in mil thicknesses but I specify their heights and widths in
millimetres.  My document margins are in inches, as are my page sizes.

> 
> In summary, when your doctor asks how much you weight and
> your height, you'll say 12 stone 5 foot 11 and she'll change that
> to 75 kg and 180cm for your medical records.

My doctor weighs me and measures my height (and they're noted in kg and cm)
:>

Cheers ... Kim

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