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Daniel Pfeffer wrote: I would have thought they would have inherited the British way of doing things
We didn't fight for our independence just to copy the old country's ways. 
There are no solutions, only trade-offs. - Thomas Sowell
A day can really slip by when you're deliberately avoiding what you're supposed to do.
- Calvin (Bill Watterson, Calvin & Hobbes)
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Is that why you still speak a dialect of English, measure with inches, feet, and yards, and weigh with ounces and pounds? Strange way to declare your independence, if you ask me! 
Freedom is the freedom to say that two plus two make four. If that is granted, all else follows.
-- 6079 Smith W.
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Yeah, but we got rid of those superfluous U's in words like color, honor, etc. Viva la revolution! (Or however it's spelled, those darned French don't know how to spell, either. lol)
There are no solutions, only trade-offs. - Thomas Sowell
A day can really slip by when you're deliberately avoiding what you're supposed to do.
- Calvin (Bill Watterson, Calvin & Hobbes)
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I live in India, and we drive on the left side of the road, the steering wheel being on the right side of a car.
My friend, who also lives in India, used to share his driving experience in the US, during business visits. At the time of landing in US, he forcefully 'switches' his brain left and right hemispheres, so as to drive properly over there.
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While in college I worked at a gas station (Exxon) when they decided to try changing the pricing from gallons to liters. The confusion led to lost sales, and it didn't take them long to switch back.
I wish the country would convert everything to the metric system, it makes the math a lot simpler, and millimeters are much more accurate than fractions of an inch.
There are no solutions, only trade-offs. - Thomas Sowell
A day can really slip by when you're deliberately avoiding what you're supposed to do.
- Calvin (Bill Watterson, Calvin & Hobbes)
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Quote: millimeters are much more accurate than fractions of an inch
I think accuracy has more to do with the measuring device and the measuror than the scale. 
I make my own beer. The mix I buy (comes from UK), makes 23 liters. I make my beer in a one gallon jug. My observation: It would be much better for my beer making if the UK made the change. 
>64
It’s weird being the same age as old people. Live every day like it is your last; one day, it will be.
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TNCaver wrote: millimeters are much more accurate than fractions of an inch.
1mm < 1/16", but the accuracy depends on the tool used to measure. A measurement with a metric ruler is likely to be less accurate than a measurement with an imperial caliper.
Freedom is the freedom to say that two plus two make four. If that is granted, all else follows.
-- 6079 Smith W.
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As you point out it depends on the tool used. I have a metal ruler with metric on one side and imperial on the other. Millimeters are more granular than fractions of an inch, and it seems like so many measurements go somewhere in between the 1/16th inch markers but are closer to the mm markers. I don't own any calipers...
There are no solutions, only trade-offs. - Thomas Sowell
A day can really slip by when you're deliberately avoiding what you're supposed to do.
- Calvin (Bill Watterson, Calvin & Hobbes)
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I have a steel rule from my apprentice days with divisions of 1/32" for the first inch then 1/16" thereafter. You can measure to the nearest 1/32" with it pretty easily (it has the temperature at which it is correct engraved on it, too). As has been already said, the units don't affect the accuracy, it's how you measure.
Someone on farcebook claimed the reason the USA uses Fahrenheit is because it's more accurate than using Celsius - same disclaimer applies. Celsius (and Kelvin) and the metric (SI) system are easier for scientific calculations because the various constants have been defined in terms of those base units. You'd have to do all your calculation in terms of fractions of a foot and pound though, if you wanted to use imperial. It's convenience, really.
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TNCaver wrote: millimeters are much more accurate than fractions of an inch.
As others have pointed out, accuracy has more to do with the measuring device than anything else.
Metric's benefit is all in conversion, where all you have to do is move the decimal when you need more precision or align the decimals when you need to do calculations. It's a lot quicker to add up a series of numbers then a series of fractions, when the denominator is different for every figure you have to include.
Don't get me started on the US vs Imperial gallon, or ton or...a lot more additional units than I ever knew about (based on a quick ChatGPT search, asking about other measurements that aren't the same but share the same name). WTF, a meter is a meter, there's no uncertainty about that.
Anyway. It's really not up to me to try to put forth arguments for or against; this has been debated ad nauseam.
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dandy72 wrote: It's a lot quicker to add up a series of numbers then a series of fractions...
Aye, I did say "it makes the math a lot simpler."
dandy72 wrote: Don't get me started on the US vs Imperial gallon, or ton or...
The US and OK 'acre' is the same size, but in the States we have the regular acre (43,560 sq ft), and then we have the Builder's acre, and even 40,000 sq ft, used in real estate marketing supposedly to simplify the math, but feels dishonest to me.
There are no solutions, only trade-offs. - Thomas Sowell
A day can really slip by when you're deliberately avoiding what you're supposed to do.
- Calvin (Bill Watterson, Calvin & Hobbes)
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Instant diet
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Meters, of course. Imagine the mass confusion if we start measuring fruit, vegetables etc. in kilometers!
Religious freedom is the freedom to say that two plus two make five.
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We can already have a yard of grass.
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In Norway, we have the area unit 'square liter'. That is the floor area covered by beer if you tip over two full half liter glasses.
Religious freedom is the freedom to say that two plus two make five.
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The link in your signature is broken.
The difficult we do right away...
...the impossible takes slightly longer.
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They should carefully weigh that decision before making it.
"A little time, a little trouble, your better day"
Badfinger
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Just switch everyone to Newtons and be done with it.
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RainHat wrote: Just switch everyone to Newtons and be done with it.
Or to Einsteins for relative units
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I'd just like to say "Litres, gallons, pints, cubic centimetres" - which, I think, speaks volumes.
(coat on, door closing behind me ...)
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The basic lumber for building here in the US is called a "2 by 4" -- a piece of wood (usually pine) that many years ago was 2 inches by 4 inches by some length (such as 8 feet long).
Today that piece of wood in a lumber yard is actually 1.5 inches by 3.5 inches by some length. Not sure why the size shrunk other than saving a few dollars for the lumber mill.
As a typically uninformed American, what is the basic equivalent piece of lumber elsewhere in the world?
These are the deep questions retirement allows me to ponder.
Best wishes from Minnesota - Craig
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In much of the rest of the world, people no longer build with wood - it's either too expensive or subject to conservation laws. As you pointed out, even in the US they have reduced the amount of lumber going into a house by going from a 2"x4" standard to 1.5"x3.5". They may use more yards of lumber to compensate for the reduced structural strength, but I'm certain that less lumber is needed overall.
Freedom is the freedom to say that two plus two make four. If that is granted, all else follows.
-- 6079 Smith W.
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