Korean Job Discussion Forums

[little mixed girl]

they were talking about going to metric when my MOM was in school.

anyways, a very smart boy from my high school chemistry class summed it up this way:
"the only people in the US that use the metric system are drug dealers and doctors".
so true.

[mindmetoo]

America I don't think will ever adopt the metric system. I saw a funny conversion in the Korea Herald last week. They were taking about how men can feel 2c cooler if they don't wear a tie. The reporter also put the 2 c in degrees f as 37f. Wow. A man can feel a whole 37f cooler without a tie! Clearly she just entered 2c at some conversion web site and pasted back the conversion...

[JongnoGuru]

[hypnotist]

I don't get this - the UK may be very imperial (ho ho ho) but most younger people do use centigrade and all the weather forecasts show either only centigrade, or both - never only Fahrenheit.

I struggle when visiting the US to 'get' the temperatures in the weather forecasts. I can't work in Fahrenheit.

[Wangja]

The UK has been officially metric for decades. The first industry chosen for the switch was construction - I have no idea which bright spark in Whitehall came up with that brilliant thought.

As far as I know, the only items left in Imperial units are beer and long distances.

Anybody else see any irony in the fact that the USA still uses Imperial units?

[JongnoGuru]

[hypnotist]

[thorin]

Causes some confusion among expats, a total non-issue otherwise.

[billybrobby]

People say the English (or imperial) metric system is illogical while the metric system is logical. but i totally disagree. the metric system is illogical in so far as it is based on the number 10. why 10? well, because our counting system is based on 10, of course. but that's the problem. 10 is a stupid number to base a counting system on. It would be far better to base it on a power of 2 like 8 or 16. that way you can divide things more easily. if you have 16 of something, you can divide it by 16,8,4,3,2, and 1. but if you have 10 of something, you can only divide it up into 10,5,2 and 1.

unlike the stupid metric system, the english system is partially based on powers of 2. for example:

1 cup = 8 ounces = 2x2x2 = 1000 (base 2)
1 pint = 16 ounces = 2x2x2x2 = 10,000
1 quart = 32 ounces = 2x2x2x2x2 = 100,000
1 half gallon = 64 ounces = 2x2x2x2x2x2 = 1,000,000
1 gallon = 128 ounces = 2x2x2x2x2x2x2 = 10,000,000

much better than the abitrary metric system

[Ya-ta Boy]

The metric system is part of the international communist conspiracy to make everything the same everywhere, so they can take over more easily. It's much like daylight savings time, where they steal sunlight from the corn and give it back to us in the winter when the corn isn't growing.

[Wangja]

[mindmetoo]

Many Canadians have a fairly weird approach to the metric system. We tend to give cold temperature in C but hot temperature in F.

"Yikes its -10c today!"
"Dear god, it's May and it's topping 90f!"

We buy gas by the liter but measure fuel efficiency in MPG. We buy our meat by the kg or g but give our weight and height in pounds and feet/inches. Distance we either give in kms or, more preferable, in terms of highway driving times. London to Toronto is not "250 kms" but a 2 hour drive.

[stumptown]

[billybrobby]

[JongnoGuru]